G8 Italy 2009 - Partnership sends open letter to Leaders
PMNCH Letter to G8
Your Excellency,
On behalf of the membership of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, we are writing to you in the wake of the historic 2009 L’Aquila G8 Summit to express our deep appreciation for your words of commitment to improving maternal, newborn and child health, and to urge you to translate those powerful words into concrete action.
The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) brings together more than 270 member organizations from the maternal, newborn, and child health communities representing a broad range of constituencies, including multilateral organizations, government and foundation donors, developing country governments, non-governmental organizations, academic and research institutions, and associations of health care professionals. The Partnership plays a crucial role in supporting and coordinating the global health community’s efforts to achieve MDGs 4 and 5, by building consensus and promoting evidence-based, high-impact interventions; advocating for the necessary political and financial commitments; and ensuring transparency, harmonization, and accountability.
The work we do together gives the Partnership a unique vantage point on the need for concerted, committed action on behalf of the world’s women and children. We were therefore gratified to see, in the L’Aquila Summit’s Leaders Declaration, a set of clear and unprecedented statements on the centrality of maternal, newborn, and child health to overall progress on the MDGs. We are especially pleased to see a concrete reference (in para. 122) to "building a global consensus on maternal, newborn and child health as a way to accelerate progress on the MDGs for both maternal and child health through (1) political and community leadership and engagement, (2) a quality package of evidence-based interventions through effective health systems, (3) the removal of barriers to access to all women and children, free at the point of use where countries chose to provide it, (4) skilled health workers, (5) accountability for results".
The consensus welcomed by the G8 in the declaration provides a solid framework for building and maintaining political momentum, identifying new and better-aligned resources, and promoting effective policies and programs to extend life-saving services to women and children. We hope the declaration can be followed up with a clear plan of action for delivering on these historic promises. The Partnership is ready to work with you on the development of action plans and funding strategy, to achieve the mobilization of the financial resources necessary to implement these commitments, strengthen under-resourced health systems and recruit and train a million new health workers.
At the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, held in New York last September, more than 100 governments and international organizations called on the global community to allocate an additional US$10 billion per year to women’s and children’s health, an investment that will save six million lives, promote the survival and well-being of countless families and communities, and break the endless cycle of illness and poverty that continues to devastate so many developing countries.
At L’Aquila, the G8 has put its unique and powerful voice behind both the need and the solutions. We congratulate you for the clarity of your vision and the power of your inspiring words, and we would like to assure you that The Partnership stands ready to serve as a platform for collaboration on the G8’s historic commitments to save the lives of women, newborn and children.
Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurance of our highest consideration.
Joy Phumaphi, Chair of PMNCH, Human Devevelopment Network, World Bank
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Co-Chair PMNCH, Minister of Health, Ethiopia
Ann Stars, Co-Chair PMNCH, President, Family Care International