No more excuses. That was the main message coming out of Kampala this past week after the 15th African Union Summit brought African leaders and high-ranking ministers together under the auspices of “maternal, infant and child health and development in Africa.”

In a debate session that lasted more than twice the allotted time, African leaders discussed the critical role of maternal health in moving the African continent forward. Leaders also agreed to renew the Maputo Plan of Action (PDF), a critical framework that ensures the rights and health of women and girls on issues of education, safe abortion, family planning and economic opportunity. Having it signed, in place and ready to be actualized is absolutely imperative.

No more excuses — we must address maternal health and women’s rights issues in Africa. While there has been outstanding leadership on these issues from all over the continent, our maternal health indicators continue to dwindle at the utmost bottom, globally. The vastness of the African continent, coupled with the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the levels of poverty in many parts of our countries mean that the road to improving maternal health could not be harder.

But it isn’t impossible, and we have seen time and again the clear and cost-effective solutions that do exist: mobile phones for midwives, drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission, ready access to family planning for young women, ramped up efforts to ensure our girls are educated. And the list goes on.

It was fortuitous that the Summit carried the theme of maternal, child and infant health and was held amid a series of important global events where leaders have continued to pledge their commitment to addressing the needs of those most vulnerable. Women Deliver and the G8 Summit in June were two important platforms where new political and financial commitments to maternal health were garnered.

In just about a month, at the UN General Assembly in New York City, global leaders will gather for a summit on the Millennium Development Goals, of which MDGs 4 and 5 — the goals to improve child and maternal health, respectively — are clear priorities.

In my own work, I have seen how important global summits like these are. My own organization, Partners in Population & Development, was founded based on the program of action that came out of another critical summit more than 15 years ago, the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo.

These are rare opportunities for the world’s leading researchers, advocates, and policy makers to gather in one spot and we cannot let any opportunities pass us by. Renewing the Maputo Plan was the first step to galvanizing commitment of leaders, but we have to continue pushing for more – real solutions, put in place to deliver real and positive outcomes. We will continue to hold ourselves and our governments accountable. It is the future of our continent, as are our women and girls.

– Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, MD, MPH, Africa regional director, Partners in Population & Development

ONE Vote ’08 applauds the governor for releasing his plans to fight HIV/AIDS. We look forward to hearing more from the governor about his plans to fight global poverty and disease.

-Josh Lozman, ONE Vote ’08 Policy Manager

· Renewing her commitment to providing at least $50 billion for global HIV/AIDS by 2013 including an increased commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

· The statement says that Senator Clinton “will seek in the near term to double the number of people receiving treatment and put us on a path to reach the goal of universal access to medications.” She also provides commitments on health infrastructure including increasing the number of health workers in Africa by at least one million; this was a recommendation from the Commission on Africa report published in 2005.

· Senator Clinton is a sponsor of the Education for All Act currently in the Senate. There is a clear link between children being in school and those children avoiding contracting HIV. The Senator renewed her commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of universal basic education by 2015.

· Senator Clinton made specific mention of sub-populations especially impacted by the epidemic, women and children.

ONE Vote ’08 applauds Senator Clinton for presenting her plan to fight HIV/AIDS at home and abroad. The new UNAIDS statistics released this past week confirm that the AIDS epidemic is still a crisis that will demand greater resources to beat. Our nation’s next president will be counted on to meet this looming challenge.

-Josh Lozman, ONE Vote ’08 Policy Manager