To mark Mother’s Day yesterday, Senator Chris Dodd and former Senator Bill Frist co-authored an op-ed on the need to “nurture the future by giving children a basic security that no military could ever match”. The Senators write at length about maternal and child health:
Children and pregnant women are dying needlessly. Americans know it’s wrong to let these deaths continue when we know how to prevent them.
The tools to stop this are proven and often very low-cost. Using them, we could prevent an estimated two-thirds of 8.8 million annual child deaths and three-quarters of 343,000 maternal deaths.
Some poor countries have already made astounding progress — thanks to a combination of foreign aid, national will and sustainable strategies for getting basic health care to poor mothers and their children.
The most effective solutions are not high tech. Exclusive breastfeeding, micro-nutrients, antibiotics, anti-malarials, vaccines, oral-rehydration therapy and ready-to-eat foods could save millions of children each year. Skilled attendance at births, as well as basic prenatal and postnatal care could prevent most maternal deaths.
The countries with the highest number of child and maternal deaths also have the largest health care provider shortages, according to the new report, “State of the World’s Mothers 2010” from Save the Children. Yet, the report also shows that we can address this without having to confront the extreme challenge of producing large numbers of additional doctors to meet the estimated global shortfall of 4.3 million health care professionals.
Here’s a partner post from our friends at Save the Children about Moms Rule!, a new project launched just in time for Mother’s Day.
My mom is a dynamic woman who is spending her retirement years traveling, golfing and herding my father. She always reminded me of Rosalind Russell at her ‘My Girl Friday’ best. She was a working mother when it wasn’t common, thanks in large part to the support of her own mom. Then when my Gran fell and broke her hip, mom left work to care for her. Now in her 70s, she still wears her leather pants as she hits the auctions looking for great deals. I think my mom rules!
I doubt I’m alone. We likely all think our moms are pretty special and we appreciate their sacrifices and their support. This Mother’s Day, there’s a way to not only honor your own mother (or a special woman in your life), but to also help moms around the world.
At www.momsrule.org, send an e-card to your mom, grandma, sister, friend and thank her for all her love, support and sacrifice. You can also upload a picture and include a short comment or story to the ‘Momsaic,’ an online photo mosaic comprised of pictures of mothers and caregivers from around the world.
To further honor your mom and moms across the globe, you can also send an email to Prime Minister Harper or President Obama, urging them to make a commitment towards long-term funding that will help improve the health of mothers and children in some of the world’s poorest countries. Each year, nearly 9 million children under age 5 die from preventable causes and more than 340,000 mothers die from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. This doesn’t have to be the case.
I can’t wait to upload a picture of my mom and her leather pants. I will send her the e-card to thank her for being such a great mom. I know that she will be thrilled that in her name, an email will be sent to Prime Minister Harper about the maternal newborn and child health initiative.
Progress is being made to save these women and children, and when they survive, they contribute to a stronger, safer, more prosperous world. Our moms help us grow and learn to shape our own destinies. By honoring them, we can help moms around the world do the same for their own children.
-Cicely McWilliam, EVERY ONE Campaign Coordinator, Save the Children Canada
It’s almost summer here in Washington, DC—and you know what that means? Time to sign-up for national conferences! Several of our partners are hosting events and advocacy workshops in Washington, DC from May through July, and we hope you’ll be able to join them.
Find out more and RSVP by clicking the links below—and don’t forget to tell your family and friends to sign-up, too!
As you likely read on the ONE blog last Friday, last week was a big week for education. Congresswoman Nita Lowey unveiled the Education for All Act of 2010 and Jessica Alba launched the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign.
Save the Children has also been quite busy spreading the word about the importance of education in recent months. In fact, America Ferrera—Save the Children’s Artist Ambassador for Education—recently returned from a trip to Mali, where she talked with teenage girls, played with preschoolers and met with community groups to learn about small ways that people can make a big difference in helping to educate children in Africa.
Learn more about America’s trip in the video diary below:
AmeriCares
Chief of Staff Carol Shattuck recounts her experience on AmeriCares first emergency airlift to help Haiti with earthquake and humanitarian relief.
Concern Worldwide
Program Officer Susan Finucane offers a video update of Concern’s work on the ground in Port-au-Prince.
Leon H. Sullivan Foundation
“In the aftermath of the largest earthquake to hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti in more than two centuries, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation has initiated a relief effort to help meet the population’s immediate needs and participate in long-term efforts to restore normalcy to a country plagued by natural disasters.
“To merely replace the unsound buildings and feed people temporarily will not be enough. My organization is working on projects to help Haiti and its people become more self-sufficient over the long term,” said Hope Masters, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sullivan Foundation. “We who have so much must never forget to help those who have so little.”
TransAfrica Forum
An online resource for the latest news on the earthquake and its aftermath. TransAfrica Forum also held a candlelight vigil at the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC earlier this afternoon.
World Food Programme
“Within the next week, we aim to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals so that people whose homes have been destroyed, and who have no access to cooking facilities, can feed their families,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We are also procuring 4.2 million rations of supplementary ready-to-use foods specifically designed to give children the calories and nutrition they need each day.”
Here are a few more updates today from our partners and friends on the effort underway in Haiti:
American Red Cross:
“We are humbled and thankful for the outpouring of support from our blog visitors offering their services to help those in need in Haiti. We committed $200,000 last night, and increased that amount this morning to $1 million.”
AmeriCares:
“AmeriCares is sending $3 million worth of medical aid to survivors of yesterday’s deadly, 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti from our Stamford warehouse. Disaster relief modules stocked with emergency medicines and medical supplies valued at $2 million have been deployed from the Amsterdam warehouse.”
Catholic Relief Services:
“In the Dominican Republic, the country that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, CRS is preparing 10,000 packages, each containing food and water for a family of five. The first 500 are scheduled to be delivered to Port-au-Prince on Friday. Today four CRS staff members are traveling by bus from the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince as CRS begins to increase our presence in Haiti to respond to this unprecedented disaster. CRS has committed an initial $5 million (US) to help survivors of the devastating quake.”
FEED:
In 2009, WFP School Feeding reached over 400,000 Haitian children in 850 primary schools. FEED is working to maintain WFP School Feeding in Haiti during this critical time.
International Relief & Development:
IRD, a specialist in disaster response and emergency relief operations, has mobilized an emergency response team to Haiti. IRD will focus on the provision of emergency commodities, such as water, sanitation kits, medicines, hygiene kits, and shelter materials.
Islamic Relief:
Islamic Relief USA announced that it will immediately fly a $1 million shipment of aid to Haiti.
Jubilee USA:
Jubilee USA is calling on the Obama administration to take 3 specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake.
Oxfam International:
A six-strong team of Oxfam emergency specialists has been dispatched to Haiti from the UK today to assist the 200 staff who were already stationed in Haiti when the earthquake hit on Tuesday.
World Food Programme:
“A WFP food distribution reached 3,000 people in the southern town of Jacmel on Wednesday and, despite logistical difficulties, more distributions were planned for Thursday in three areas of Port-au-Prince with high a population concentration.”
World Vision:
“On Thursday, World Vision will rush 18 metric tons of lifesaving supplies from its warehouse in Denver to Haiti, which was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake Tuesday that affected some 3 million people. Thursday’s shipment will include tarpaulins for temporary shelter, blankets, collapsible water containers, hygiene kits, and cooking sets.” Also, click here to watch an interview with Laura Blank, Media Relations Manager at World Vision.
Yele Haiti:
Wyclef Jean’s nonprofit organization, Yele Haiti, has raised over $1 million for the victims of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake from mobile donations.
As you may have already heard, a catastrophic 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti several hours ago. While many details about the situation on the ground are still developing, CNN reports that the US State Department has been told to expect a serious loss of life. Below is a round-up of statements and updates from our friends and partners. You can also read these statements from President Obama and Secretary Clinton.
CARE is attempting to contact our country office in Haiti and assess the humanitarian situation following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near the impoverished nation’s capital city. Initial reports indicate the disaster could be a major catastrophe.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a region about 14 miles from Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, according to media reports. World Vision staff members are assessing the situation and determining a potential emergency response.
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviews a World Vision official:
WESTPORT, Conn. (Jan. 12, 2010) — Save the Children is verifying the safety of staff just hours after a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
Houses are down in the area surrounding the Save the Children office, which was also damaged in the quake, according to Ian Rodgers, the agency’s Emergency Response Advisor, who is currently in Port-au-Prince.
An estimated 1.8 million residents were violently shaken by the earthquake and aftershocks affecting the densely populated areas near Port-au-Prince.
Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1985, primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau region, providing health, education, protection and food security programs to vulnerable children.
Right now, Save the Children is assessing staff and program safety, which will be complicated by the onset of evening. Employees who were in the office at the time are uninjured, though about half of program staff were elsewhere. The agency plans to deploy emergency teams and begin relief efforts soon.
I’ve been on the phone for most of the last three hours figuring out the best way we can respond to the news in Haiti.
A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has toppled buildings, including at least one hospital, and we assume there are significant casualties (the news has been slow to trickle out).
We do not currently have staff in Haiti, but we do have extensive experience responding to earthquakes — most recently in Padang, Indonesia last September. My colleagues and I have been canvassing our own emergency operations team as well as veteran relief workers from throughout the agency to determine the most qualified and immediately deployable staff.
We will begin deploying our team tomorrow and working now to line up resources to respond.
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My mom is a dynamic woman who is spending her retirement years traveling, golfing and herding my father. She always reminded me of Rosalind Russell at her ‘My Girl Friday’ best. She was a working mother when it wasn’t common, thanks in large part to the support of her own mom. Then when my Gran fell and broke her hip, mom left work to care for her. Now in her 70s, she still wears her leather pants as she hits the auctions looking for great deals. I think my 
