RMNCH News 2012

Reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health

RMNCH News archive

December

November

October

September

  • UN chief hails progress in scaling up maternal and child nutrition worldwide
    27 SEPTEMBER 2012 | NEW YORK – High-level political and private sector officials today met in New York to fight childhood and maternal under-nutrition with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praising the progress made so far, while stressing the importance of continuing to boost efforts on this front.
  • Supporting efforts to end obstetric fistula
    SEPTEMBER 2012 - The U.N. Secretary-General Report, “Supporting Efforts to End Obstetric Fistula,” noted great progress in addressing fistula, yet called for more support and intensified action to end fistula.
  • iERG on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health press release
    26 SEPTEMBRE | GENEVA - The first report of the UN Secretary-General's independent Expert Review Group (iERG)* on Information and Accountability for Women's and Children's Health, to be launched on September 26 at the UN General Assembly, concludes that although headline reductions in maternal and child mortality during the past decade have been impressive in some countries, millions of women and children still die every year from preventable causes.
  • UN Commission sets out plan to make life-saving health supplies more accessible
    26 SEPTEMBER 2012| UN, NEW YORK – A new plan and set of recommendations to improve the supply and access of life-saving health supplies was submitted today to the UN Secretary-General by the members of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children.
  • IWG announces eight grants for mobile technology
    25 SEPTEMBER 2012 | NEW YORK - This initiative, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and implemented in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), provides grants, networking, and capacity building support for innovative uses of mobile technology to advance maternal and child health, with a focus on expanding programs to wide-scale implementation.
  • Every Woman Every Child Progress 2012
    25 SEPTEMBER | NEW YORK, NY — Since its launch in September 2010, the Every Woman Every Child movement, led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has helped catalyze new attention and investment to some of the most neglected causes of women’s and children’s mortality.
  • UN Foundation progress
    25 SEPTEMBER 2012 NEW YORK – As Every Woman Every Child marks its second anniversary today, the United Nations Foundation continues to implement its 5 year, $400 million commitment together with partners, which has helped the movement reach major milestones over its first two years, saving the lives of women and children around the world.
  • THE LANCET: Special release to mark opening of United Nations Assembly
    20 SEPTEMBER 2012 - The Lancet is publishing a collection of papers outlining the latest thinking on how this can be achieved, as well as highlighting critical issues of accountability and equity.
  • Press release: $20 Billion for Women's and Children's Health
    SEPTEMBER 2012 - Financial commitments of nearly $58 billion to The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children's Health includes about $20 billion in new money, according to a new report from The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH).
  • United Nations General Assemby September 2012: RMNCH In focus
    11 SEPTEMBER - Special events related to advocacy and reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) which take place during the lead-up and the week of the opening of the United Nations General Assembly in New York
  • Women Deliver President Jill Sheffield calls for focus on women in fight against chronic diseases
    17 SEPTEMBER 2012 – With world leaders returning to the United Nations General Assembly in New York to renew commitments made the year before to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Jill Sheffield, President of PMNCH member organization, Women Deliver has called for women to be at the heart of these efforts.
  • Preparatory Meeting of 2013 Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health
    16 SEPTEMBER |RECIFE, BRAZIL - The first preparatory meeting of the Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health was held on 13-14 September in Recife, Brazil.
  • UNICEF 2012 Progress Report: Rapid progress in child survival
    NEW YORK, 13 September 2012 – Countries across the world are making rapid progress in reducing child deaths, demonstrating that it is possible to radically reduce child mortality over the span of two decades, a UNICEF report says today.
  • UN-IGME: Accelerating progress on child survival since 2000
    NEW YORK/GENEVA, 13 September 2012 – The pace of reducing child deaths has accelerated sharply since 2000, according to new data released today by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the UN Population Division.
  • Catapult.org: First crowdfunding site for women + girls
    12 OCTOBER 2012 | NEW YORK, NY - Today, on International Day of the Girl Child, global advocacy organization Women Deliver launched Catapult, the first online funding platform dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women worldwide.
  • 2012 APEC Ministers support maternal and child health
    5-6 SEPTEMBER 2012 | Vladivostok, Russia - Ministers of the Asia-Pacific region (APEC) met in Vladivostok, Russia on September 5-6, 2012 to review the current state of affairs in the region, assess the progress APEC has made in 2012, and discuss the way forward for APEC.
  • 21st Session of Human Rights Council opens in Geneva
    10 SEPTEMBER 2012 | GENEVA - The 21st Session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council has received a report which aims to help policymakers in improving women’s health and rights by providing guidance on implementing policies and programmes to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity in accordance with human rights standards.
  • UNSCN publishes new statement on Nutrition Security of Urban Populations
    SEPTEMBER 2012 - Important global initiatives to improve nutrition have developed over the past years and many stakeholders have expressed their commitment and interest in supporting the scale-up of nutrition actions.
  • WRA September Action: Be the Citizens' Voice- Photo Contest
    3 SEP - WRA wants to hear from you, the citizens, because you witness and experience where progress is and isn’t being made.
  • Call for topics: Women Deliver maternal/newborn health theme
    03 SEPTEMBER 2012 - An invitation to all individuals working in the field of MNH to contribute ideas and suggestions on the topics and issues that the maternal and newborn health stream should cover at the third Global Women Deliver Conference,
  • Second Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration
    3 - 7 SEPTEMBER 2012 | DURBAN - The Second Conference of African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration was held from 3-8 September in Durban, South Africa under the theme “Improving Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS): Institutional and Human Infrastructure”.

August

July

June

  • IPPF Young People’s Summit
    28 JUNE 2012 | LONDON - On July 11th, at the instigation of the UK’s Department for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a one day Family Planning Summit will convene in London.
  • Conference on African Health Financing
    4-5 JULY 2012 | TUNIS, TUNISIA - The Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA) in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) are organizing a Conference of African Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Health on the theme of achieving greater value for money in health.
  • Family Planning Summit
    11 JULY 2012 | LONDON - The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, with participation by other partners (including technical assistance from USAID), are sponsoring a high-level event in London on World Population Day, July 11, to galvanize political commitment and financial resources from developing countries, donors, the private sector, civil society and other partners to meet the family planning needs of women in the world’s poorest countries by 2020.
  • Call to action: Support contraceptives on the New No Controversy Website
    26 JUNE 2012 | A number of PMNCH partners have launched a Call to Action and Support for contraceptives. More than 200 million women in developing countries who don’t want to get pregnant lack access to contraceptives.
  • STC Teen Pregnancy report
    26 JUNE 2012 | LONDON – A new report from Save the Children UK - Every Woman's Right: How Family Planning Saves Lives - highlights the fact that girls under 15 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy than women in their 20s.
  • Lancet to launch new series on midwifery
    21 JUNE 2012 - A new global project has been launched in an effort to enhance the evidence base on midwifery and to further advocate for developing midwifery services at scale.
  • African Ministerial Conference on "Value for Money, Sustainability and Accountability in the Health Sector
    The African Development Bank is hosting a high-level Ministerial conference on health financing at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Tunisia, on July 4-5, 2012.
  • Rio+20 Conference
    At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, came together to discuss issues of the environment, sustainability, poverty, equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet .
  • New UNFPA/Guttmacher Study finds little progress in meeting demand for contraception in developing world
    19 JUNE 2012 | NEW YORK - A new study by the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) -Adding It Up: Costs and Benefits of Contraceptive Services—Estimates for 2012 - finds that the number of women in developing countries who want to avoid pregnancy but are not using modern contraception declined only slightly between 2008 and 2012, from 226 to 222 million.
  • 2012 G20 Watch
    18-19 JUNE 2012 | MEXICO – Group of 20 (G20) countries are going a long way to improving health of their populations through their commitment to ensure food security.
  • mHealth Summit - Call for Presentations
    The 2012 mHealth Summit is the premier international forum connecting the mobile health ecosystem for mHealth research, education, thought leadership, exhibits and action-provoking panel discussions.
  • IPPF calls for signatures for a global letter of support for Family Planning Summit
    This July, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the British government's Department for International Development (DFID) will hold the London Family Planning Summit.
  • Child survival call to action
    14-15 JUNE 2012 / WASHINGTON, D.C. – The governments of the United States, India and Ethiopia, in collaboration with UNICEF, have convened the Child Survival Call to Action in Washington D.C.
  • UNICEF launches Report on pneumonia and diarrhoea
    UNICEF’s equity-focused pneumonia and diarrhoea report: Pneumonia and diarrhoea: tackling the deadliest diseases for the world’s poorest children.
  • Country CSOs meet to discuss RMNCH advocacy and collaboration
    13 JUNE 2012 - Washington DC – Civil society organizations (CSOs) working to strengthen coalitions of national reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) advocacy met in Washington DC to exchange experiences.
  • Nigerian Health Minister inaugurates committee to host meeting of PMNCH Board
    13 JUNE 2012 | ABUJA, NIGERIA - Health Minister, Prof.C.O.Onyebuchi Chukwu has inaugurated a 13-man Local Organising Committee for the hosting of the 13th Board meeting of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Partnership (PMNCH) in Nigeria.
  • A decade of change for newborn survival, policy and programmes (2000-2010): A multi-country evaluation of progress towards scale
    A special supplement in Health Policy and Planning with a focus on newborn survival, policy and programmes was released on 13 June 2012 entitled: “A decade of change for newborn survival, policy and programmes (2000-2010): A multi-country evaluation of progress towards scale.”
  • The Lancet special issue highlights RMNCH
    The 8 June 2012 Issue of The Lancet had several commentaries and articles on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH). They included:
  • Countdown to 2015 launches the 2012 Report
    14 JUNE 2012 - Countdown to 2015 launches its 2012 Report on at the Child Survival Call to Action, a two-day high-level meeting in Washington, D.C.
  • Saving Mothers, Giving Life
    1 JUNE 2012 | OSLO, NORWAY — The US government has joined Merck for Mothers, Every Mother Counts, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in a new initiative to reduce maternal mortality.

May

April

March

  • 126th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union meets in Kampala
    31 MARCH -5 APRIL 2012 | KAMPALA, Uganda – Some 1500 Parliamentarians from across the globe are focusing on women’s and children’s health at the 126th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union this week in Kampala.
  • Women’s and children’s health high on agenda at 126th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
    PMNCH member White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) is reporting direct from the Assembly on the progress of the IPU resolution “Access to Health as a Basic Right: The Role of Parliaments in Addressing Key Challenges to Securing the Health of Women and Children”.
  • Lancet review examines equity in MNCH interventions
    31 MARCH 2012 – The global health community must increase its efforts to ensure key maternal, newborn, and child health interventions are adequately reaching all social groups.
  • First Asia-Pacific workshop on developing country roadmaps
    19-21 MARCH | MANILA, PHILLIPPINES - Delegations from seven Eastern Asian countries (China & Mongolia), South-Eastern Asian countries (Cambodia, Lao, Philippines and Viet Nam) and Papua New Guinea, supported by a range of country, regional and global partners*, met in Manila, Philippines on 19-21 March to develop country roadmaps to strengthen national accountability and action for improving women’s and children’s health.
  • Africa Regional RMNCH Advocacy Strategy Implementation Meeting
    26 MARCH 2012 | KAMPALA, UGANDA - Over 140 partners gathered in Kampala to identify next steps in the implementation of the Integrated Strategy for Reproductive Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH), led by the African Union. This strategy, devised during a consultation in August 2011, promotes alignment of the implementation of several African and global frameworks for women’s and children’s health, including the Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal, Mortality in Africa, The Maputo Plan of Action and the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health.
  • Africa Regional Consultation on Achieving MDG 5
    27-28 MARCH 2012 | KAMPALA, UGANDA - Almost 200 partners, including policy-makers, researchers, experts and advocates gathered in a forum to discuss key issues in the struggle to achieve Millennium Development Goal 5, the UN MDG aimed at improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality
  • Health Metrics Network and World Health Organization welcome birth registration resolution
  • Newborn care on video
    A series of short videos produced by Global Health Media Project illustrate newborn care clinical guidelines.
  • WHO/Stop TB: Childhood tuberculosis neglected, despite available remedies
    21 MARCH 2012 | GENEVA - Tuberculosis (TB) often goes undiagnosed in children from birth to 15 years old because they lack access to health services - or because the health workers who care for them are unprepared to recognize the signs and symptoms of TB in this age group.
  • New UN Commission on Life-Saving commodities for Women and Children
    23 MARCH 2012 – A new United Nations Commission has been announced to catalyze changes in the way overlooked commodities are made, distributed and used in order to prevent the leading causes of death and disease among the world’s poorest women and children.
  • Call: Advancing knowledge and practice for using systems thinking for equitable health systems strengthening in LMICs
    20 MARCH 2012 - The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research at WHO and the Governance for Equity in Health Systems Program at IDRC are pleased to announce a Call for Papers on "Advancing knowledge and practice for using systems thinking for equitable health systems strengthening in LMICs”
  • It’s time to deliver for girls and women
    20 MARCH 2012 - “A few weeks ago, on 8 March, the world celebrated International Women’s Day, which serves as a clarion call to honor girls’ and women’s contributions to their families, communities and nations. ... Here in Africa, we are doing just that. On 27-28 March, policymakers, researchers and advocates from across the continent – including Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni and Minister of Health Honorable Dr. Christine Ondoa – are gathering in Kampala for a regional consultation on maternal and reproductive health.
  • Countdown update fosters country accountability, supports Global Strategy
    19 MARCH 2012 | COUNTDOWN 2015 - As follow-up to the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, Countdown to 2015 has released a new report: Accountability for Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival: An update on progress in priority countries.
  • Call for Letters of Interest: The 2012 Innovation Working Group Catalytic Funding Competition
    The mHealth Alliance, in partnership with the Innovation Working Group, the UN Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child global strategy and the Norwegian Development Cooperation Agency (Norad) have issued a Call for Letters of Interest (LOI) for the 2012 mHealth for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Competition for catalytic funding.
  • Changing Lives Campaign to celebrate UK Mothers’ Day
    15 MARCH 2012 | DFID FACEBOOK – This Mother's Day, the United Kingdom Department of International Development is highlighting how UK aid is helping two million women to deliver their babies safely in the world's poorest countries.
  • WHO: New research on postpartum haemorrhage in Lancet
    6 MARCH 2012 | LONDON-GENEVA - Findings on the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) have important implications for expanding access to effective care and could have a substantial impact on maternal survival in places where access to skilled medical staff is difficult.
  • President Obama & Prime Minister Cameron commit to maternal and child health
    14 MARCH 2012 | THE WHITE HOUSE – During meetings between the UK Prime Minister and President Barack Obama in March in Washington DC, they together reaffirmed commitment and work being done by the two countries together to improve women’s and children’s health and save lives
  • Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases: END7 Campaign Seeks to Eliminate 7 Neglected Diseases
    13 MARCH 2012 - In early 2012, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases - an initiative of the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute - launched END7, an international public awareness campaign with a mission to see the end of seven neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2020.
  • Health partnerships reach out to G8 leaders
    MARCH 2012 - The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health has joined with three other leading global health partnerships to send an open letter to G8 leaders to ask for the inclusion of a specific statement of commitment and support for global health in this year's G8 Summit Declaration and accountability report.
  • International Women’s Day 2012
    In commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD), PMNCH members are celebrating progress and advancing commitments towards better health for the world’s women and their children.
  • FHDO: International Women's Day was observed in Sirajganj
    8 MARCH 2012 | SIRAJGANJ - To celebrate the day a colorful rally was organized by governmental and non-governmental organizations and was attended by Deputy Commissioner Mr Aminul Islam as chief guest.
  • "Women Deliver 50” casts spotlight on ideas and solutions improving the lives of girls and women
    7 MARCH 2012 | NEW YORK – In the lead up to International Women’s Day, PMNCH member Women Deliver announced the winners of its annual “Women Deliver 50” list, a compilation of the 50 most inspiring ideas and solutions that are delivering for girls and women across the globe.
  • UK to host family planning summit with Gates Foundation
    06 MARCH 2012 | LONDON - The UK Government is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and partners to host a Family Planning summit in London in July 2012.
  • WHO/UNICEF: MDG met for drinking water- but sanitation lags behind
    6 MARCH 2012 | NEW YORK/GENEVA – The world has met the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water, well in advance of the MDG 2015 deadline.
  • Norway commits $9.9 Million to Maternal and Newborn Health
    5 MARCH 2012 | WASHINGTON, DC – As International Women’s Day approaches, the mHealth Alliance announces that the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) has made a US$9.9 million commitment to support the use of innovative mobile technologies to improve women and children’s health.
  • CSW Side Event: Keeping Promises, Measuring Results
    2 March 2012 | NEW YORK - A side event held during the 56th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York, was co-hosted by the government of Canada, PMNCH and the United Nations Foundation, in support of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Every Woman Every Child Initiative.

February

January

  • 2012 top stories
  • Intel and UNFPA to boost health workers’ skills around the world
    30 JANUARY 2012 | UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK/SANTA CLARA, California — In an effort to address The high number of unnecessary deaths during pregnancy and childbirth, Intel and UNFPA have announced a joint commitment to strengthen the skills of midwives and community health workers through technology and training materials from the two organizations.
  • PMNCH co-hosts side event at the 2012 World Economic Forum (WEF)
    27 JANUARY 2012 | DAVOS - The Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health led a special side event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss a draft Guide, developed with FSG, to outline ways in which companies can contribute to improve the health of women and children.
  • Two RMNCH initiatives launched at WEF
    27-29 JANUARY 2012 | DAVOS- World Economic Forum — Two new initiatives were launched by business and social media leaders that aim to end new HIV infections among children.
  • Every Woman Every Child
    27-29 JANUARY 2012 | DAVOS - Two side events related to the Every Woman, Every Child effort were co-organized with PMNCH at the 2012 World Economic Forum (WEF). A high-level luncheon addressed reasons and ways for business and government leaders to invest in women and children´s health.
  • PMNCH Board welcomes new Co-Chairs and Members
    JANUARY 2012 | GENEVA - In 2011, PMNCH co-chairs Vinod Paul (Academic Expert) and Purnima Mane (UNFPA) completed their terms with the PMNCH Board.

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