wiepanelists
Advocacy, Philanthropy and the Millennium Development Goals – Meeting our promises to women and girls_Moderated by Sarah Brown This session will explore how advocacy and philanthropy can – and has – changed the lives of girls and women all around the world; how interlinked the global goals on poverty are for women, with the fifth goal on reducing maternal mortality
a cornerstone to success; what tools we can use to mobilize and inspire actions and awareness and what inspired each of our panelists to use their voice and creativity to such incredible effect
health: more than any government. The involvement of non-G8 donors like Korea, Norway, Spain and Switzerland is also encouraging. Now, this month (September 2010), the United Nations Secretary General will launch a new Global Strategy on Women’s and Children’s Health, urging governments to pledge new resources and and enable women and children to access the vital care they need. So it’s clear that political will is growing. The rights of girls and women are starting to be recognized and new figures are showing that the number of women lost every year in pregnancy and childbirth is at last declining in a number of countries. Together we are making progress.
Sarah Brown, Global Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, writes about MDG 5, the goal to reduce women’s deaths in childbirth: Ending the deaths of women in pregnancy and childbirth isn’t like finding the cure for cancer; we already know how to do it – and in much of the world maternal deaths are rare. In Ireland for instance, only 1 in 48,000 women risk dying whilst giving life. So why is it that in countries like Niger the figures are a shocking 1 in 7? Such stark inequality is a symptom of the deep neglect of women, which is still the norm in many parts of the world. Thanks largely to our growing global movement for change – of which the WIE Symposium is a unique part - world leaders are finally taking notice. Recently, in June of this year, the G8 delivered an action plan to support mothers and children, while G8 governments pledged $5 billion in extra funds over the next 5 years to support much needed health interventions. Then in July, the African Union leaders promised integrated health services for women, babies and children together with a boost to spending so that they will achieve the agreed 15 percent of their national budgets for health. Meanwhile, this year the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged a generous $1.5 billion for maternal, newborn and child
Yet the situation is still very urgent, and it remains unacceptable that so many girls and women are dying unnecessarily. Although maternal death rates globally have declined, only 23 countries are on track to achieve the Millennium Development target to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent, and in some countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, things are getting worse. What we need to see now is action. African leaders, fresh from their recent summit, must put concrete plans in place to invest in health services. Governments across Asia and South America must follow suit, while developed countries must keep their promises of aid. As a movement we must also keep up the pressure. We must challenge ourselves to build on our successes and continue to grow in our strength and number until every political commitment is delivered. This year almost half of all women giving birth in Africa will still do so alone, or with only a neigbour or relative to help. That means that when the baby gets stuck, or the woman starts bleeding, there is no one to help her. Only by training and properly paying and supporting many many more professional health workers, especially midwives, can we save the lives of mothers and their newborns. As the WIE Symposium launches for the first time, we begin a fiveyear countdown to the deadline of 2015 agreed by world leaders at the Millennium. The goals on maternal and child health remain way off track and we need to act together and act fast to make sure they are met. This was our promise to the women of the world; let’s make sure that promise is kept.
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09/09/2010 11:16