New Commitment on South-South Cooperation Announced in Support

 

Of Women’s, Children’s Health

 

Global action to improve the health of women and children would be enhanced through a new programme to share ideas and successes among developing countries, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday.

“South-South collaboration is more than just economic cooperation, it is about exchanging knowledge, experience and expertise,” Mr. Ban said.  “It is the foundation of a global and inclusive partnership for action.”

The Secretary-General had joined members of Partners in Population and Development for a high-level dinner held at New York Headquarters last night to highlight the critical role of South-South collaboration in advancing women’s and children’s health, as well as the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

Partners in Population and Development, which consists of Member States, said that its new commitment to the Secretary-General’s “Every w oman, every child” initiative would ensure that the latter’s programmes and activities promoted the inclusion of women and children as the beneficiaries of all of its policy and programme efforts.  Partners in Population and Development aimed to achieve that through the sharing of knowledge, capacity-building, the transfer of commodities and technology, advocacy and policy dialogues, partnership and resource mobilization, diplomacy and monitoring.

“Every woman, every child” is an unprecedented global movement spearheaded by the Secretary-General to mobilize and intensify global action to improve the health of women and children around the world.  The commitment by Partners in Population and Development will help strengthen and harmonize joint action by their 26 members on essential interventions for women and children.

In a letter to the Secretary-General, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chair of Partners in Population and Development and India’s Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said: “PPD commits to mobilizing political support and advocating for allocation of required resources in the Member States.  PPD as an organization will align its strategic directions to ensure that improving maternal and child health is an integral part of its programme agenda.”

Joe Thomas, Executive Director of Partners in Population and Development, said: “Partners in Population and Development member countries cover more than 57 per cent of the population.  Our commitment to the health and well-being of women and children, through South-South collaboration, will have unprecedented global impact.”

With 675 days left until the deadline for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there has been greater urgency among the international community to come together and accelerate progress, especially on the health-related Millennium Goals.  South-South collaboration is an important driver of progress and can make a vital impact on the health and well-being of the most vulnerable women and children, now and for the future.

“‘Every woman, every child’ has taught us we can do things differently and get drastically improved results,” said Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  “This movement is putting women and children at the centre, respecting and protecting their rights, including ensuring access to family planning services so that women and girls can make informed choices in life.  The UN system will continue to innovate and partner with organizations like PPD to maximize our collective impact.”

Others in attendance were Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Raymond Chambers, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Financing the Health-Related MDGs and for Malaria, as well as Permanent Representatives from more than 26 Member States.

Partners in Population and Development

Partners in Population and Development is an intergovernmental alliance comprising 26 developing countries.  It provides a mechanism for promoting partnership and cooperation among member countries with a view to achieving the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), its Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals.  It holds permanent observer status in the General Assembly.

The current member countries of the alliance are Bangladesh, Benin, China, Colombia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, Viet Nam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.  The PPD member countries have more than 57 per cent of the global population.  For more information, visit: www.partners-popdev.org.

“Every Woman, Every Child”

Launched by Secretary-General Ban during the September 2010 the September 2010 United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, Every Woman Every Child is an unprecedented global movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by Governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women and children around the world.  It puts into action the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, which presents a roadmap for enhancing financing, strengthening policy and improving services on the ground for the most vulnerable women and children.  For more information visit: www.everywomaneverychild.org.

Media Contacts

Megan Gemmell, United Nations, “Every woman, every child”, tel.:+1 212 963 1365, e-mail: gemmell@un.org; Melanie Prudhomme, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.:+1 917 367 3541, e-mail: prudhommem@un.org; and Masuma Billah, Partners in Population and Development, tel.:+88 01716 011683, e-mail: masuma@ppdsec.org, Skype: masuma.billah.

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For information media • not an official record