Women and Children First (WCF) is to hold a one day workshop on global maternal, newborn and child health at Church House, Westminster, London SW1, on Thursday, 6 March 2008. The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest, but there is still a need to stimulate further commitment and action to achieve the goals by 2015, particularly MDG 4 to reduce child mortality and MDG 5 to improve maternal health, the latter of which has been acknowledged as the hardest Goal to achieve.
It is a matter of great concern to us that, while there are international forums for collaborating to improve maternal, newborn and child health, here in the UK there is no forum for UK-based NGOs working on these issues to share experiences, learn lessons and advocate for change. For this reason, WCF has decided to host a meeting for leaders in the field, to stimulate co-ordinated UK-based advocacy in this field. We have invited a representative of the Norwegian government to open the meeting and update us on the Global Campaign for the Health MDGs, and Dr Francisco Songane, Director of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health has agreed to contribute. Other speakers will include representatives from WHO and other UN Agencies, DFID, and UK-based NGOs and academic institutions. We expect some 75 workshop participants which will include key players in donor and policy-making bodies, as well as representatives from national and international NGOs.
The final agenda can be downloaded here.
If you would like further information or to register to attend the workshop please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
