Women Deliver conference in Malaysia

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Women Deliver conference in Malaysia

– Reported, June 13, 2013

Thousands of government leaders, health care professionals, NGOs, media and more came together in Malaysia at the Women Deliver Conference, which focused on one overarching topic — the health and empowerment of girls and women.

It was incredibly encouraging to hear men and women from around the world speak about their commitment to women’s health and even cooler when you consider that most of the speakers were so dedicated that they traveled to Malaysia. One of my favorite sessions was the session on the post-2015 development agenda through young people’s eyes, during which young panelists from around the world discussed their motivations for working on women and girls issues, their frustrations, and their ideals for a post-2015 world.

Nevertheless, my feeling of optimism was tempered because, as I listened to speakers at the conference and pored over blog posts and Twitter feeds — which you can still check out here if you missed it — what kept coming to mind was the gap between what was being said and the reality in too many parts of the world.

Many speeches contained warm and fuzzy bits that detailed the benefits that could come if women were sufficiently empowered around the world: National economic growth rates increase! When women are in charge of family finances, families spend more on health while also saving money better!

But others touched on what’s unfortunately still the reality in too many communities. Jeni Klugman of the World Bank pointed out in her speech that among global married women, 40% have no say whatsoever in their health choices – and the same percentage have zero say in major household purchases. Globally, 33 women die every hour of every day solely due to preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Of the 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDG), progress towards achieving MDG 5 on improving maternal health remains more off-track than progress on any other goal.

It is encouraging that women’s health and empowerment is an important enough topic for which even heads of state will travel from all corners of the world, and the Women Deliver organizers deserve major kudos for pulling off what looked like, from afar, an incredibly dynamic and diverse conference on this important topic. However, merely speaking about the importance of the issue isn’t enough. It’s time for all of us to buckle down and ramp up our work in ensuring women’s health is prioritized so they can reach their full potential within their families, their communities, and the world.

CREDITS.

http://www.one.org/      

 

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