United Nations Secretary General's Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health23 September 2010
The new global strategy has the potential to advance the Millennium Development Goal of dramatically reducing the number of maternal deaths but to be effective it must be sufficiently resourced and have a human rights focus. In recent commentaries, particularly an editorial, co-authored with Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma, Robinson makes the point that improving women's health requires strong government leadership at every level: The Test of Political Leadership: Valuing Maternal Health World leaders are finally paying attention to a long under-prioritized global challenge - protecting women's health. In June, G8 leaders meeting in Canada committed significant new resources for improving maternal and child health in the poorest nations. In July, the African Union Heads of State Summit in Kampala was dedicated to Maternal and Child Health. Plans for the launch by the UN Secretary General of a new Global Strategy on Women's and Children's Health are underway. And at the upcoming UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals, perhaps the largest ever gathering of heads of state will recommit to dramatically reducing the number of maternal deaths and increasing access to reproductive health services by 2015. These are all welcome developments but the true test of political leadership lies not in global summits and strategies. Improving women's health requires leadership closer to home ...read more Related Links:
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