Friday, October 19, 2007

[EQ] Safe Maternity and the World of Work

Safe Maternity and the World of Work

 

 International Labour Office, ILO Geneva, 2007, to be presented at the Women Deliver Conference in London, October 18-20, 2007

 

Women in the workplace: New ILO report highlights how action in the world of work can help reduce maternal deaths

Every minute of every day, a woman dies needlessly in pregnancy or childbirth. With nearly 60 per cent of the world’s women of childbearing age in the labour force in 2006, the importance of paid work in the lives of so many women makes maternity protection at work a key to safeguarding the health and economic security of women and their children. A new ILO report to be presented at an international conference in London on 18 October reviews the progress and priorities in the world of work to ensure women’s rights to safe maternity.

Press Release: http://www.ilo.org/global/About_the_ILO/Media_and_public_information/Feature_stories/lang--en/WCMS_084620/index.htm

Women Deliver Conference – London - October 18-20 2007 website: http://www.womendeliver.org/

 

Coverage by Global Health TV at: http://www.globalhealthtv.com/

 

Reports and Research
 

Making Motherhood Safe in Developing Countries

The New England Journal of Medicine April 2007

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/14/1395

 

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Conference in Nairobi, an event that launched a global initiative to reduce maternal mortality in developing countries. At that time, maternal and child health programs focused primarily on the health of infants and young children.1 Providing pregnant women with lifesaving medical care was thought to require high technology at large hospitals, and policymakers thought it more feasible to reduce child mortality with preventive measures such as immunization, oral rehydration, and breast-feeding. The conference spotlighted the number of pregnant women dying each year and issued a call to action. So, how far have we come in the past 20 years?

 

The State of the World’s Children 2007

Women and Children: The Double Dividend for Gender Equality

http://www.unicef.org/sowc07/docs/sowc07.pdf

UNICEF

 

The State of the World’s Children 2007 reports on the lives of women around the world for a simple reason: Gender equality and the well-being of children go hand in hand. When women are empowered to live full and productive lives, children prosper. UNICEF’s experience also shows the opposite: When women are denied equal opportunity within a society, children suffer.

 

Gender Equality at the Heart of Development

Why the role of women is crucial to ending world poverty.
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/gender-equality.pdf

DFID Department for International Development

 

Introduction by Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development.

This publication is about making a difference. It’s unacceptable that women and girls continue to face discrimination in their everyday lives; discrimination limits the choices they have, the freedoms they enjoy, and the contribution that they can make.

I want the UK to be at the forefront of putting women’s rights and their freedoms at the heart of development. We know from experience, and from the UK’s own history, that where women have equal chances in education, work or in politics, they make a real and lasting difference, one that benefits us all. This booklet sets out what we’ll do and invites you to help us.

 

The Lancet Maternal Health Survival Series

Healthy motherhood: an urgent call to action

http://www.womendeliver.org/pdf/Maternal_Lancet_series.pdf

 

While the past 3 years have ushered in a new phase of commitment to child survival,1 issues surrounding maternal survival have remained largely neglected. The fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG-5) is to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015. Yet, sub-Saharan Africa seems to have stalled in its efforts to improve maternal survival. Only two out of five births benefit from skilled attendants at delivery—and that share has remained unchanged between 1990 and 2003. South Asia has seen improvements: from 27% to 38% coverage with skilled attendants. But coverage rates still remain far too low.

 

Improving the health of mothers and babies: Breaking through health system constraints

April 2007, id21 insights health, Issue #11
http://www.id21.org/insights/insights-h11/index.html

 

Improving maternal health remains the most elusive of the Millennium Development Goals. Every minute, at least one woman dies from pregnancy-related causes: 99 percent of these are in developing countries. The majority of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia, and are avoidable through using standard interventions and health care which all pregnant women and their newborns need.

 

The Lancet Series on Sexual and Reproductive Health

Executive Summary of Lancet Sexual and Reproductive Health Series
http://www.womendeliver.org/pdf/FINAL_SRH_Exec_Summary.pdf

 

Sexual behaviour, family planning, abortion, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and sexual and reproductive rights are not commonly discussed topics. These subjects often generate strong opinions, make people uncomfortable, and are prone to misinterpretation. So why cover these challenging social and developmental issues in a medical journal?

 

The world health report 2005 - make every mother and child count
http://www.who.int/whr/2005/en/

World Health Organization

 

The World Health Report 2005 – Make Every Mother and Child Count, says that this year almost 11 million children under five years of age will die from causes that are largely preventable. Among them are 4 million babies who will not survive the first month of life. At the same time, more than half a million women will die in pregnancy, childbirth or soon after. The report says that reducing this toll in line with the Millennium Development Goals depends largely on every mother and every child having the right to access to health care from pregnancy through childbirth, the neonatal period and childhood.

 

Maternal Health and Transport Key Issues Guide
http://www.eldis.org/go/health/maternal-health-and-transport

IDS Health and Development Information Team

 

This key issues guide examines the relationship between maternal health and transport. Specifically, it looks at how transport affects access to preventative and emergency maternal health services. Access to transport enables women to receive timely obstetric care that is essential for their survival. Transport is therefore an important element that contributes towards reaching the fifth millennium development goal, to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent by 2015.

 

The 'three delays' model of maternal mortality is used as a framework to show how transport-related factors affect individuals and families decisions to seek care, identify and reach a facility and receive adequate treatment. The guide provides examples of transport-related interventions that have been implemented to increase access to and use of health facilities and recommendations for policy.

 

World Abortion Policies 2007 http://www.womendeliver.org/resources/media/2007_WallChart.pdf
and Microsoft Excel version http://www.womendeliver.org/resources/media/2007_WallChart.xls

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs - Population Division

 

World Abortion Policies 2007 provides the most up-to-date, accurate and objective information available on the legal status of induced abortion for the 195 Member and non-Member States of the United Nations. To complement this information, data on abortion rates, contraceptive prevalence, total fertility and maternal mortality are also provided.

 

 The conference core planning group includes:

*  UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund

*  UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund

*  The World Bank

*  WHO, the World Health Organization

*  UK's Department for International Development (DFID)

*  Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs

*  The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)

*  The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

*  Family Care International

*  The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)

*  The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health

 

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/

EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.  

[EQ] World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development

World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development

 

The World Bank, October  2007

 

Available online at: http://go.worldbank.org/LBJZD6HWZ0

 

Press Release: http://go.worldbank.org/IUIGDTF9M0

 

October 19, 2007 – World Development Report 2008 calls for greater investment in agriculture in developing countries.The report warns that the sector must be placed at the center of the development agenda if the goals of halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 are to be realized.

·         While 75 percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas in developing countries, a mere 4 percent of official development assistance goes to agriculture.
spaser

·         In Sub-Saharan Africa, a region heavily reliant on agriculture for overall growth, public spending for farming is also only 4 percent of total government spending and the sector is still taxed at relatively high levels.
spaser

·         For the poorest people, GDP growth originating in agriculture is about four times more effective in raising incomes of extremely poor people than GDP growth originating outside the sector

 

 

Published October 19, 2007

Download Options for the World Development Report 2008. (To read these PDF files, you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader).

 

Overviews (multilingual)

English

French

Spanish

Portuguese

Arabic

Russian

Chinese

 

 

Complete Report, Executive Summary & Overview

Complete report as one file

Table of Contents, Foreword, Acknowledgements & Abbreviations

Overview

Part I: What can Agriculture do for Development?

Chapter 1: Growth and Poverty Reduction in Agriculture

Focus A: Declining rural poverty has been a key factor in aggregate poverty reduction

Chapter 2: Agriculture's performance, diversity, and uncertainities

Focus B: Biofuels: the promise and the risks

Chapter 3: Rural households and their pathways out of poverty

Focus C: What are the links between agricultural production and food security?

Part II: What are effective instruments for using agriculture for development?

Chapter 4: Reforming trade, price, and subsidy policies

Chapter 5: Bringing agriculture to the market

Focus D: Agribusiness for development

Chapter 6: Supporting smallholder competitiveness through institutional innovations

Chapter 7: Innovating through science and technology

Focus E: Capturing the benefits for genetically modified organisms for the poor

Chapter 8: Making agricultural systems more environmentally sustainable

Focus F: Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change in agriculture

Chapter 9: Moving beyond the farm

Focus G: Education and skills for rural development

Focus H: The two-way links between agriculture and health

Part III: How can agriculture-for-development agendas best be implemented?

Chapter 10: Emerging national agendas for agriculture

Chapter 11: Strengthening governance, from local to global

Bibliographical Note

Endnotes

Selected Indicators

Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 *      *      *     * 

This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
Information Technology - Virtual libraries; Research & Science issues.  [DD/ IKM Area] 

“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is". Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
Health Organization PAHO/WHO or its country members”.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAHO/WHO Website: http://www.paho.org/

EQUITY List - Archives - Join/remove: http://listserv.paho.org/Archives/equidad.html

 

 

 

 

 

    IMPORTANT: This transmission is for use by the intended recipient and it may contain privileged, proprietary or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or a person responsible for delivering this transmission to the intended recipient, you may not disclose, copy or distribute this transmission or take any action in reliance on it. If you received this transmission in error, please notify us immediately by email to infosec@paho.org, and please dispose of and delete this transmission. Thank you.