One year ago, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health. So one year on, what’s been done and what still has to be done? According to the secretary general, we are delivering “on all fronts”, and figures published just hours before the Every Woman Every Child event to mark the anniversary seem to back up his belief.

While the UN declaration on non-communicable diseases itself couldn’t be more vague when it comes to recognising the particular vulnerabilities of women and young people, other events happening in New York this week have brought some attention to these under-served groups. For all the talk of ‘integration’, bringing together different disease and health issues, and the particular groups most susceptible to them, appears to be a challenge. Those speakers that have done so deserve kudos.

The UN MDG summit storm has come and gone. The dust is settling, and it’s back to business as usual for Action for Global Health’s dynamic superhero duo. So, what did we learn from our first foray as superheroes? Em, that donning all that spandex is a lot tougher than you might imagine… On a [...]

Unfortunately we didn’t get to be in the room when world leaders pledged their commitments to the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, but watching it by live feed from the bloggers’ lounge definitely gave it the feeling of a climactic moment to this week in New York. That was because [...]

Last Saturday (September 18) tourists and street vendors around the Eiffel Tower were replaced by activists from “Non-assistance à mere en danger“, GCAP and the French Millennium Campaign for a huge flash mob. Activists released black balloons as a tribute to the 350,000 pregnant women who die each year from complications related to pregnancy or [...]

Are the MDGs the right way to fight global poverty? The MDGs are a useful framework but a one-size fits all approach is not the best way to go about tackling the problems of individual countries.  Often aid is given on the basis of whether an MDG-driven approach is being taken, ignoring local policies which [...]

New York is now officially buzzing with all the dignitaries in town for the UN Summit. It’s not just the official business that’s blocking the streets, but also lively protests like this one in support of the Global Fund today. We’ve been attending various meetings and events and there are definitely themes emerging. There is [...]

On September 16th, Action for Global Health and the Princess of Africa foundation will present at the French Senate, Susan Koch’s documentary “The Motherland Tour: A journey of African Women”. This movie traces the journey of Yvonne Chaka Chaka the South African iconic singer and humanitarian, around Africa. A journey to focus attention on women contributing in their own way to help [...]

What do free healthcare clinics in Sierra Leone have in common with iPads? Funnily enough, not a great deal apart from novelty and a mutual ability to attract excited crowds who will queue patiently for hours in the hope of getting close to one. Strictly speaking, universal healthcare in Sierra Leone isn’t actually a new [...]