Sexual and Reproductive Health with Isaac Eranga

April 14th, 2015 Statement submitted by Women Deliver, and accepted and included as an official statement at the Comission on Population and Development Invest in girls and women: everybody wins Imagine a world where no woman dies giving life, where no baby is born with HIV, where every girl is able to attend school and receive a quality education, and where everybody — including girls, women and young people — has the opportunity to live to their full potential. That world is within reach — if we want it. Right at this moment, a truly universal and transformational course is being set, changing the world as we know it and as we want it. United Nations Member States are negotiating the final parameters of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Drivers such as the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are being revisited, rev

April 16th, 2015 Pregnant girls are now barred from school in my country Sierra Leone. The government has decided that as schools reopen this week for the first time since the vicious Ebola outbreak that has claimed over 10,000 lives – and plunged our country into fear, lock downs, economic and emotional pain – pregnant girls should simply stay away. According to Dr. Minkailu Bah, the Minister of Education, Sierra Leone is “not going to legalize teenage pregnancy.” To justify this baffling policy, the Minister and his supporters, including the Council of School Principals and the Head Teachers Association, have invoked custom (it’s not our “custom” to have pregnant girls in class with other girls who are “innocent”) and morality (pregnant girls are a “bad influence” on other girls). Human rights organizations and advocates like myself have expressed outrage and shock (you can sign my petition on the issue here .) As I aske

​​10 APRIL 2015 | GENEVA Caesarean section is one of the most common surgeries in the world, with rates continuing to rise, particularly in high- and middle-income countries. Although it can save lives, caesarean section is often performed without medical need, putting women and their babies at-risk of short- and long-term health problems. A new statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) underscores the importance of focusing on the needs of the patient, on a case by case basis, and discourages the practice of aiming for “target rates”. Caesarean section may be necessary when vaginal delivery might pose a risk to the mother or baby – for example due to prolonged labour, foetal distress, or because the baby is presenting in an abnormal position. However, caesarean sections can cause significant complications, disability or death, particularly in settings that lack the facilities to conduct safe surgeries or treat potential complications. Ideal r

April 6th, 2015 Think about this: Africa has 24% of the global burden of disease, but just 3% of the health workforce. High-income countries, which have only one-third of the world’s population, make up about 75% of the health workforce. This imbalance must be addressed. Skilled health workers are the foundation of a functioning health system. When a country has a shortage of healthcare providers, the entire population suffers and women are disproportionately impacted. In developing regions, the lack of trained doctors, nurses, and midwives to provide women with pregnancy and delivery care has devastating consequences: nearly 300,000 women die every year from pregnancy, millions suffer serious health problems, and three million newborns do not survive their first month of life. It is clear that increasing the number of well-trained health workers is a critical step to improving the health and wellbeing of women and

April 3rd, 2015 Engaging adolescent girls has garnered a great amount of attention this year, both during the recent 59th Commission on the Status of Women and in talks about the post-2015 development agenda. That dedication to engagement, however, is not always accompanied by a clear understanding of how best to do so. Following a rousing speech or panel, many are left with the following question: “How exactly to address the needs of or issues most affecting adolescent girls?” And in a sea of experts, advocates, and government officials, it’s easy to lose sight of the best source of information about adolescent girls – adolescent girls themselves. That is why in the days before the world came together to celebrate 20 years since the Beijing Conference at CSW59, over fifty such experts, advocates, government officials, and adolescent girls gathered to advance our understanding of how to engage adolescent girls in the pro

April 8th, 2015 When society invests in women and girls, everybody wins. That’s the mantra of Katja Iversen ’s organization, Women Deliver, a leading global advocate for girls’ and women’s health, rights, and wellbeing. In the following interview, Iversen explores the power that corporates have to significantly impact the lives of women – and why their success is really good for business. The following interview is part of the series Leading Shared Value, spotlighting the presenters at the 2015 Shared Value Leadership Summit: Business at its Best . Why is shared value one of your priorities as a CEO in the global women’s advocacy space? Women Deliver works to improve the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women around the world, with a particular focus on maternal and reproductive health and the social determinants. We work strategically with the private sector, which is a powerful actor in internationa

Posted on March 9, 2015 By Katie Millar, Technical Writer, MHTF At a standing room only event last week at The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health , global experts gathered to discuss the need for, barriers to, and the way forward for maternal and newborn integration. But what is integration and why is it so desperately needed? Every year approximately 300,000 women and 5.5 million newborns, including stillborns, die needlessly. The causes of these deaths are often similar since the mother and her newborn are inextricably linked both socially and biologically. For the panel, Putting Mothers and Babies First: Benefits Across a Lifetime , Ana Langer , Director of the Maternal Health Task Force; Joy Riggs-Perla , Director of Saving Newborn Lives at Save the Children; Alicia Yamin , Policy Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights and Kirsten Gagnaire , Executive Director of the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action