Day 1: June 7, 2010
PSI Board Member Ashley Judd joined hundreds of the world’s most dedicated and influential leaders, advocates, researchers and humanitarians today in Washington DC, as the 2010 Women Deliver Conference kicked off its three day series of sessions and discussions in Washington DC. From celebrities and humanitarians to Executive Directors, midwives and practitioners, all were gathered to discuss one common passion: maternal health, including reproductive health. Over the following three days, the goal is to place women’s health issues at the forefront of the global agenda. Exactly where, according to Ms. Judd, it’s always belonged.
Working toward the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the next five years present both opportunity and challenge for us to meet those related to maternal health, particularly MDG-5, which proposes to decrease maternal deaths and provide universal access to reproductive health products and services. Despite the gains that have been made in recent years, there is still much work to be done – more than 340,000 women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes around the world and more than 200 million lack access to contraception. As many of the speakers, including Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, reminded participants today, the time to capitalize on the momentum we do have is now, but to do so we must work together.
In order to scale-up efforts to meet MDG-5 and, more importantly, save lives of countless women and girls, we must work together to unleash the power of girls and women in communities around the world. Women hold the power for monumental change, urged Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during her virtual address at this morning’s opening plenary: “…when women prosper, families and communities prosper as well.” This theme continued to hold constant throughout the rest of the day’s activities. In order for maternal and reproductive health issues to be placed on the global agenda, the girls and women affected in communities around the world must be part of the conversation.
We also need increased funding and more integration of health care delivery if we are to really make a sustainable impact and reach MDG-5. When we use the limited funds available to make practical, cost-effective financing, policy and programming decisions, which includes integration of services, we get a greater return on that original investment. Many are already doing this – at PSI common maternal and child health interventions like routine post-natal check-ups and family planning, are linked together where appropriate. Later this month, the Canadian Government will bring further attention to the idea of integrated services at the upcoming G8 Summit.
Undoubtedly the biggest announcement came mid-way through the day as Melinda Gates discussed the commitment that she and her husband Bill share for ensuring that measurable impact is seen on the ground and announced that they have committed $1.5 billion for maternal health issues . This is the second largest donation in the history of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and it comes at a critical time when resources are scarce and a clear, collaborative framework is needed to adequately scale-up efforts.
Additional Information
- Daily Update Day 1
- Daily Update Day 3
- Learn more about PSI’s Reproductive Health programs.
