global maternal mortality campaign
what we do

Over the past year the Maternal Mortality Campaign has been at the heart of the global effort to bring the plight of mothers and newborns to the world's attention. Here are some highlights:

G8 Summit

Last year we worked with a variety of partners including public relations powerhouse Freud, advertising company Karmarama, and magazines Elle and Harpers. In June and July we worked towards the G8 summit culminating an advert was printed in leading newspapers across the globe calling to the leaders of the G8 countries to remember the world's mothers.

This was accompanied by an open letter from the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the International Confederation of Midwives, the International Confederation Nurses, the International Pediatricians Association and White Ribbon Alliance members representing 14.3 million health-workers. The letter called for an additional $10 billion to support health systems in the developing world. A copy of the letter was handed to Prime Minister Harper in Ottawa and Prime Minister Brown with similar delegations across Africa.

At the G8 leaders said they, "warmly support building a global consensus on maternal, newborn and child health as a way to accelerate progress on the MDGs for both maternal and child health...". (http://www.g8italia2009.it/static/G8_Allegato/factsheethealth%20EN.pdf).

No. 10 Report Handover

In September 2009 we joined with over 60 organisations to support and sign onto the "Your Money or Your Life" report which called on donors and the national governments of seven developing countries to announce free care for women and children in anticipation of the High-Level Task Force meeting later in the month. Teaming up with Oxfam, the Maternal Mortality Campaign led a group of pregnant women to take the free health care message straight to Downing Street. The group, fronted by pregnant UK celebrities Zoe Ball and Patricia Potter, placed the report directly into the hands of Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

At the High-Level Task Force on health financing on September 23rd, the Task Force announced a plan worth $5.3 billion US dollars for health care for women and children in poor countries across the world. Furthermore, leaders from Nepal, Malawi, Ghana, Liberia, Burundi and Sierra Leone, announced that they would expand access to health services. The result is an estimated ten million more people gaining access to free health care - a real triumph for the campaign.

Gordon Brown, co-chair of the meeting stated: "We cannot let mothers and children die through lack of finance and through the persistence of user fees. The £3.2 billion raised and the leadership of developing countries announcing the abolition of user fees mean that today is an historic step towards the goal of universal health care in Asia and Africa."

Important Dinner for Women

During the United Nations General Assembly in September the Maternal Mortality Campaign helped gather 300 high-powered women for the 5th Important Women's Dinner, which inspired women from around the world to stand up and make bold pledges to keep maternal health on the global agenda ranging from commitments to hold fashion shows, launch films, organize or participate in overseas trips, host fundraisers, and write powerful articles.