The Partnership Update - November 2008
Advocacy
A week in focus: World leaders re-commit to achieving Millennium Development Goals
A full week of High-Level meetings, including the United Nations General Assembly, focused on re-commitment and energizing action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- producing unparalleled commitments aimed at saving mother, newborn and child lives.
A key event was the special session hosted by the presidents of Chile, Finland, Tanzania and Norway: "Commitment to Progress for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH)", co-organized by The Partnership. Throughout the week, leaders in record numbers spoke about the world tragedy that almost 10 million women and young children die each year, and made commitments to new and renewed action and funding to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and help the world achieve MDGs 4 & 5.
At the end of the week, a UN-backed task force was announced, co-chaired by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick, to focus on innovative financing to strengthen health care systems, including reducing maternal and child mortality.
Find full details, speeches, commitments and press statements from the special session and the week in New York on our website at:
Successful Leadership: Country Actions for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
Leaders who have made a difference in saving maternal and child lives shared their decisions and success stories in a new document distributed at the UN High-level events : Successful Leadership- Country Actions for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Despite progress towards achieving the MDGs related to mothers and young children - MDG 4 & 5 - the world is behind schedule. The premise of this new publication: that commitments and action by decision-makers do make a difference.
Successful Leadership celebrates success stories from countries with high maternal, newborn and child mortality and highlights specific actions taken towards achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on maternal, newborn and child health. Although not a comprehensive assessment of the progress made by individual countries, the stories demonstrate the importance of five factors: Successful Political Leadership; Sound Health Policies; Effective Financing; Strong Health Systems; Action to Achieve Equity.
Share it with your country leaders. To order copies, please email: pmnch@who.int
Actuemos YA por las Mujeres y los Niños
Santiago, Chile, Launches 19 September 2008
A major MNCH commitment and regional initiative were announced by two world presidents and regional leaders in Chile in September. President Bachelet of Chile and Prime Minister Stoltenberg launched "Actuemos YA por las Mujeres y los Niños" along with Regional Director of WHO Dr Mirta Roses and high-level representatives from countries across the region. Partners in the Latin American region will meet before the end of the year to continue development of the Regional South-South cooperation plan
Developed by representatives from several countries and constituencies, the first phase will include technical cooperation between four initial countries - Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador, with hopes to expand to the highest burden countries. From 2010, the second phase will include advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, financial, technical and scientific activities and also be rolled out in Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. National and regional media and advocacy campaigns with Goodwill Ambassadors are also planned.
Countdown to 2015 at the 119th IPU Assembly
The Inter-Parliamentary Union's (IPU) 119th Assembly held in Geneva provided Countdown partners with another opportunity to inform Parliamentarians regarding maternal and child health. The Assembly gathered more than 500 Parliamentarians from over 130 countries - among them some 40 Speakers of Parliament. The Countdown to 2015 was given a presence at the Assembly to disseminate data and the 2008 Countdown Report and address parliamentarians.
On 15 October, Dr. Francisco Songane, the Director of the Partnership, addressed the IPU General Council on behalf of the Partners of the Countdown to 2015 Initiative.
Look as well in the coming weeks for an updated version of the Countdown website.