From June 7th to 9th, Washington DC was host to the 2010 Women Deliver Global Conference, a global event dedicated to deliver socio-cultural, economic, technological and political solutions to improve women’s health and particularly maternal health. The event hosted remarkable speakers and representatives of political groups, civil society groups, NGO’s and international organizations from 146 countries. Highlighting the ongoing need for women and children to be made a political priority were Women Deliver’s President Jill Sheffield and leaders such as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President of Chile Michelle Bachelet and Hillary Clinton, who delivered a video message.
The event focused on issues close to my heart which I touch on in this blog, of human rights and especially the insufficient advances in investing in women’s health. Important facts were brought to light-four million new born babies die each year and between 350,000 and 500,000 women die from pregnancy related causes, almost entirely in the developing world- and world leaders need to fight harder to tackle them. Encouragingly, the speakers all voiced their undivided and strong “belief in the importance of putting maternal health and reproductive rights at the forefront of political agendas, both at the local and national level, but also at the global level”, as Penelope Chester from UN dispatch reports.
Here is the Women Deliver website if you would like to learn more about the organization and take action to help tackle these important issues www.womendeliver.org , as well as a link to UN Dispatch’s article covering the event www.undispatch.com.