Walking through the halls of the imposing Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C., you can feel that the Women Deliver conference is the largest gathering on women’s issues in more than a decade. There is a palpable excitement and enthusiasm among the thousands of attendees milling around between sessions, connecting and sharing experiences, which is only matched by the intense engagement and intellectual energy felt during the panels, plenaries and discussions.
By Fabiano Teixeira da Cruz, Inter-American Development Bank
Ed note: Tomorrow, the author will participate in the Women Deliver conference panel ‘Mobilizing Reproductive Health: How Cell Phones Are Revolutionizing Women’s Health’, organized by the mHealth Alliance, which the Rockefeller, UN and Vodafone Foundations launched in 2009 to facilitate cross-sector collaboration to bring mHealth to sustainable scale. These are a preview of her remarks.
Maternal mortality remains a major challenge to health systems worldwide.
During an official Women Deliver press conference on Monday, former Presidents Michelle Bachelet and Mary Robinson, actress and activisit Ashley Judd, executive director of the UNFPA Thoraya Obaid and World Bank managing director Oby Ezekwesili offered their views on why it is so critical to increase and improve investments in women and girls.
The 2nd Women Deliver Global Conference began this morning in Washington D.C. Delegates hailing from 146 countries and representing hundreds of NGOs, firms, civil society groups, governments and international organizations convened this morning for the event's first plenary.
This absolutely defies comprehension.
Don't miss Una's post on this topic. A few weeks ago, she noted.
...but wouldn't she really prefer to save a life in Africa this Mother's Day?
Both UNICEF and the Nothing But Nets offer some pretty compelling ways to send love in your mother's name this Sunday. Trust me, she'll be proud.
Joseph Crowley (D-New York) and Mary Bono Mack (R-California) are asking their fellow members of congress to support a new law that would make it illegal to transport a minor outside of the United States for the purpose of female genital mutilation (FGM). According to a "Dear Colleague" letter obtained by UN Dispatch, the "Girls Protection Act of 2010" would impose the same penalties on those who transported teenage girls abroad for FGM as if the procedure occurred in the United States.
Michel Martin of National Public Radio spotlights UN efforts to combat rape as a tactic of warfare. She interviews Margot Wallstrom, the Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict--the first person to hold the position. "If we can ban cluster bombs, we can ban rape as a weapon of conflict." For more information, check out the UN's
The video opens with footage from a "juvenile rehabilitation facility" for Afghan girls doing time for "moral crimes" -- you can only guess what those might be. It is good to see UNICEF pushing back against this sort of thing.