PMNCH Launches New Resources on National Progress and Global Commitments to MDG Maternal and Child Health Targets

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By: Sarah Blake, MHTF consultant

As world leaders gather at the UN General Assembly to review progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and considers the framework that will follow the 2015 MDG deadline, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) has released its annual review of commitments to the Global Strategy on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. This year’s edition of the report focuses on assessing whether and how the 213 partners that committed to the Global Strategy have followed up on their pledges. As PMNCH Executive Director Carole Presern wrote in the Huffington Post introducing the report, “The report shows that more organizations, governments and the private sector are making commitments to improve women’s and children’s health every year, and that those commitments are being followed up with real action.”

Along with the review, PMNCH has also produced “Success Factors,” a series of 10 national case studies that present critical lessons learned for global efforts to advance maternal, newborn and child health. The case studies focus on a diverse group of countries that have achieved substantial progress in recent years, and highlight both common themes and country-specific examples of how effective approaches have been implemented to achieve dramatic effects on maternal and child health.

From PMNCH:

Success Factor Country Summaries highlight lessons learned from 10 countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Laos PDR, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda and Vietnam) that are well on the path to achieving the MDG targets for maternal and child health.

These summaries present different types of policies and programmes that countries use in key areas known to influence the health of women and children.

The lessons learned from the analysis of these 10 countries illustrate:

    • Political commitment overcomes challenges
    • Evidence guides policy and investment
    • Sustainable development accelerates progress
    • Strong partnerships achieve goals

The summaries are drawn from evidence collected as part of “Accelerating Progress for Women’s and Children’s Health,” an ongoing, multi-partner effort to answer the question “What can we learn about making progress on women’s and children’s health?” based on  large-scale vidence from 136 low- and middle-income countries over the past 50 years.