Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development
Administrator Rajiv Shah delivers remarks at the launch of a Global Partnership on Maternal and Child Health.
Photo Credit: Chris Kleponis/AFP
On Wednesday in Washington, USAID launched a new partnership and grants-based program that aims to spark revolutionary advances to dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths around the world.
For most of us, the arrival of a new child is a profoundly joyful time. But in much of the developing world, it can be terrifying. The onset of labor marks the start of a high-risk period for both mother and baby that lasts until at least 48 hours after birth. During this short period of time, 150,000 maternal deaths, 1.6 million neonatal deaths, and 1.2 million stillbirths occur each year.
This partnership between USAID, the Government of Norway, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada and the World Bank, is a testament to the belief that by harnessing the spirit of ingenuity, we can create new technologies, better service delivery models, and improved mass communication methods that prevent needless deaths and complications at the time of birth.
At the Saving Lives at Birth launch event at USAID headquarters, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, and Melinda Gates gave impassioned remarks on the need to do more to provide quality care for women and newborns in rural and low resource settings.
Partners for Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development expect to provide nearly $14 million for this grant program's first round of funding. Over five years, the partners aim to invest at least $50 million in groundbreaking and sustainable projects with the potential to have a transformative effect on the lives of pregnant women and their babies in the hardest to reach corners of the world.
To read a blog post from Dr. Rajiv Shah and the White House's Tom Kalil, click here.
Celebrating International Women's Day
Throughout USAID's 50th anniversary we will be releasing a series of infographics which highlight the critical impact of development around the world. In honor of International Women's Day, our second infographic demonstrates how investing in women and girls creates a multiplying effect beyond the individual by expanding opportunities and benefits for her family and community.
Infographic: Why Invest in Women?
Click here for more information.
From The Field
Women Scientists Break Molds in Mozambique
Dr. Filomena dos Anjos, one of Mozambique's leading female scientists. Photo Credit: Carlos Litulo
With sharp minds, inquisitive souls, and iron wills, they are an 11-strong group of top-level women scientists in agricultural research with their eyes set on influencing national and regional policy to improve livelihoods in Mozambique and across Africa.
Through their work, they are helping to change the face of a continent where women are seldom heard, but are always called on to give and to nurture.
They are Mozambique's scientists in the AWARD program for African Women in Agricultural Research and Development, funded by USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
To read the article, as featured in FrontLines, click here.
A Word from Our Partners
Can Sports Make a Difference?: Panel Probes How to Measure Impact on Youth
Last week, USAID hosted a panel discussion on "Measuring the Impact of Sports on Youth Development". Sponsored by the Office of Development Partners (ODP), over 125 guests and staff heard from NGO leadership who work with sports as a platform for youth development and spoke on the evaluation techniques for measuring the impact of these programs.
The panel was moderated by Kenneth Shropshire, of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative, the panel highlighted the ability for sports to serve as a powerful platform for youth development. USAID currently operates youth programs in over forty countries around the world and over 280 sports-based programs.
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