Two Global Conferences we wish we were attending
Every Mother Counts knows that family planning is an essential tool for preventing maternal deaths and improving women’s quality of life. When a woman has the knowledge and the tools to plan, space and prevent pregnancies, she and her family are healthier.
The International Conference on Family Planning starts today, November 12th in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and extends through the 15th. If we weren’t traveling to Haiti later this week, Every Mother Counts would absolutely be there. This is the third conference of its kind to be co-hosted by The Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia with a multitude of international and national partners. Melinda Gates, who along with Christy is honored as one of Glamour Magazine’s Women of the year, will be one of the keynote speakers and has been a strong advocate for the rights of women all over the world to have access to family planning.
Every Mother Counts knows that family planning is an essential tool for preventing maternal deaths and improving women’s quality of life. When a woman has the knowledge and the tools to plan, space and prevent pregnancies, she and her family are healthier. When she doesn’t have access to family planning and she becomes pregnant too often, too soon after a previous birth or at a very early or advanced maternal age, her risks for death and disability go way up.
Since the first conference on family planning took place in 2009 the issue has gained a lot of momentum. At The London Summit on Family Planning in 2012 69 countries made commitments to family planning and we expect that momentum to continue through the conference in Ethiopia. 3,000–4,000 participants are expected including researchers, program managers, policymakers, and representatives from international donor organizations and foundations, including many young people and newly emerging leaders in the field of family planning and reproductive health.
For women and men who live in countries where family planning is something we take for granted, it’s hard to imagine what life would be like without it. We’ve written a lot about the subjects of family planning and contraception over the years. We invite you to read about the many ways that family planning is connected to improved maternal health and reduced maternal deaths.
- Family Planning — Is It Just A Girl Thing?
- Day Two of the Women Deliver Conference — The Sex Talk
- World Contraception Day 2013
- Affordable Care Act 101 — Contraception Coverage
A second global event is taking place this week that we totally wish we were attending. The Third Global Forum on Human Resources for Health will be one of the main global health events in 2013, bringing together over 1500 policy makers, experts and advocates in the health workforce field and frontline health workers. The event theme is Human Resources for Health: foundation for Universal Health Coverage and the post-2015 development agenda.
This event, taking place in Brazil will focus on the role of health workforce in achieving global development goals. As we work to achieve a world where health and healthcare are accessible to all and where every pregnant woman has access to high-quality healthcare before, during and after her pregnancy, the big questions are: Where do we get the healthcare workers? How do we educate, train and support them?
It’s through conferences like this one and programs like our friend, Vanessa Kerry spearheaded last year that these huge question are being answered. For our part, Every Mother Counts is proud to be attending the graduation of our first class of midwifery students this weekend in Haiti. These 17 newly graduated midwives will return to their communities to care for hundreds and collectively thousands of women every year. We know it’s a drop in the bucket of global need, but we also know, that every drop counts.
