India hosts a global expert consultation on updating the
Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health
NEW DELHI, 26 February 2015 -- On 26-27 February, India’s Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare will host an Every Woman Every Child consultation with more than 130 stakeholders from
around the world in New Delhi, India, to discuss an updated Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s
and Adolescents’ Health.
Partners from government, the UN, civil society, private business, health professional organizations,
academia and donor organizations are currently developing an updated version of the Global
Strategy, first released in 2010 by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as a roadmap for action and
accountability by all partners to end preventable deaths of women, children and adolescents and
improve their health and well-being. The Strategy will align with the new 2015-2030 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), and will be launched at the SDG Summit, in September 2015 at the UN
General Assembly in New York.
The 2010-2015 Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health has been one of the most
successful campaigns in global health history, raising more than $20 billion in new and additional
resources for women and children since its launch in 2010. More than 300 partners have made
measurable, time-bound commitments to reach the goals of the Global Strategy, including 70
governments, as well as private sector companies, NGOs and others.
The momentum of the Every Woman Every Child movement, which puts into action the Global
Strategy, has spurred global progress towards reaching the health Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), which call for a two-thirds reduction of under-five child deaths and a three-quarters
reduction of maternal deaths by the end of 2015, dating from a 1990 baseline. At present, maternal
and under-five child deaths have fallen by nearly 50% from 1990 levels on a global level. However,
in India, child deaths have halved and maternal mortality has fallen by more than two-thirds during
this time (check). This is, in large measure, due to ambitious national programmes such as Janani
Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK),which has improved
institutional delivery by 83% since 2005, and targeted focus on the 184 high priority districts that
account for nearly 70% of all infant and maternal deaths in India.
“India is proud to host stakeholders from around the world to discuss an issue of critical importance,”
said CK Mishra, Additional Secretary at India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “We know
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that when women and children are healthy, the benefits for communities and nations are far reaching.
The updated Global Strategy will help ensure the world continues to prioritize and invest in their
health and wellbeing over the next 15 years.”
“This stakeholder consultation in India comes at a critical time for women’s and children’s health,”
said Amina Mohammed, the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Post-2015 Development
Planning. “We have an unprecedented opportunity to learn from and build on the tremendous
progress we’ve made during the MDG era and chart a course for the future that ensures all women,
children, and adolescents everywhere, are able to live healthy and productive lives.”
The consultation in New Delhi will give stakeholders from India and around the world the
opportunity to weigh in on priorities and approaches proposed for the updated Global Strategy, based
on lessons learned from national experiences.
Country ownership is central to the success of the updated Global Strategy. Country governments
will play a key role in implementing the strategy through national policies, allocating sufficient
financial resources, adopting supportive legislation, training and empowering health workers,
improving quality standards, and measuring progress. The Global Strategy calls for a collaborative
approach in which all partners play their part, urging each other to make commitments and to measure
progress effectively and transparently against those commitments.
“Partnership is key to the success of Every Woman Every Child,” said Robin Gorna, Executive
Director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), an alliance of more
than 650 organizations dedicated to improving the health and well-being of women, newborns,
children and adolescents. “By working together at all levels, from global to local, we are committed
to engaging the broadest range of organizations and people from around the world to ensure their
voices are heard in the post-2015 Global Strategy, and that their realities and diverse contributions are
clearly reflected in this work.”
Says Dr Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women’s and Children’s Health at
the World Health Organization, which is coordinating the technical content of the Global Strategy:
“Our progress has been tremendous, but the gaps we face remind us that there is much more to do,
especially for adolescent girls, newborns, and for women’s and children’s health in humanitarian
settings. We must redouble our efforts to confront the gender-based inequities that rob so many
women and girls of the chance to realize their potential. These are serious challenges, but countries
like India demonstrate that national commitment and leadership, starting from the top, are essential to
success.”
The 26-27 February consultation will seek insights on a range of women’s, children’s and adolescent
health issues and include sessions on: progress and lessons learned from the Global Strategy
experience since 2010, incorporating country perspectives, learning from current programmes, and
placing a new focus on adolescent health and well-being, human rights, emergency and crisis settings,
innovative financing, and cross-sectoral approaches.
Pre-meetings were held on February 25 to leverage the expertise of the private sector and civil society
on developing effective approaches to improving the health and well-being of women and children.
A first draft of the Global Strategy will be shared for consultation at a high-level side meeting during
the World Health Assembly in Geneva in May. The strategy will be accompanied by a draft
implementation plan, which will be presented to the member-states of the World Health Assembly in
May 2016.
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For more information:
Anant Zanane: azanane@globalhealthstrategies.com; +91-8130213444
Priyanka Guha: priyanka.guha@spag.asia; +91-8373924991
About Every Woman Every Child:
www.everywomaneverychild.org
Live webcast of the 26-27 January stakeholder meeting: http://globalstrategymeeting.vsworld.com/
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