Dear Network Partners,
Vous recevez ce courriel en anglais. Si vous préférez recevoir les communications en français,
veuillez en faire la demande par courriel à irene@can-mnch.
This week, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) met in New York. The Network's
Steering Committee was invited to be part of the Canadian Delegation. Many members of the
Network were in attendance, holding events and taking advantage of key stakeholders in
town for one-on-one meetings.
To name a few: UNICEF Canada hosted a MNCH conversation with Minister Paradis; World
Vision released a strong survey on Canadians perspective on MNCH; Minister Baird took part in
a large Child, Early Forced Marriage panel and spoke to its connection to MNCH, moderated by
Plan International; Grand Challenges hosted a lunch showcasing innovation in products and
financing to advance MNCH. In addition, many of your organizations participated in our
collective outreach to share our story with Canadians, via traditional and digital media.
MNCH was a key focus of this UNGA. Building on the Canadian Government's, Saving Every
Woman, Every Child Summit in Toronto, the UN Secretary General convened a three hour
meeting to discuss accelerating next steps in saving the world's mothers and children from
preventable deaths. This session was Co-Chaired by Prime Minister Harper at which he
announced, along with the Norwegian Prime Minister, the Global Finance Facility
(http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1417834/making-sure-every-mother-and-every-childcounts-canadians-lead-global-fund-for-the-world-s-poorest-mothers-and-children).
For us in the Network, this was the first in a series of coming announcements on how the
Government intends to invest the $3.5 billion announced at the Toronto Summit. The next
announcement in the coming weeks will be the Call for Proposals on MNCH for Canadian Civil
Society. Over the coming months, further investments are expected to be identified as the
GAVI replenishment comes up, the Francophone Summit takes place, etc.
There were many Network organizations at the UN Thursday night to hear the Canadian PM
address the UN General Assembly. It was the speech that many of us hoped for - with an
almost exclusive development/humanitarian focus. And, a strong call out in the speech to our
Network of 80 plus organizations and individuals as an example of Canadian expertise
working together on one of the biggest challenges of our time. (Click here for Prime Minister
Stephen Harper’s Address)
The Network continues to be a respected partner of many stakeholders, beyond the Canadian
Government. We need to continue to play this role as the position of maternal, newborn and
child health and its role in the post MDG discussions continue.
I hope this quick update is helpful. Helen is deep in planning a valuable AGM for all of us and
we look forward to seeing you in November.
Dorothy and Rosemary