Members of Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health make significant commitments post Partners' Forum

GENEVA and NEW DELHI, Dec. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Two days of deliberations, discussions and spirited exchanges at the 2018 Partners' Forum in New Delhi concluded this week with important commitments. These included Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's announcement of a US$ 100 billion investment in health services by 2025; a pledge by World Vision International to mobilize US$ 7 billion for women's, children's and adolescents' health; and a US$ 65 million extension to previous pledges made by Laerdal Medical.

In a communique, released at the Forum's closing ceremony, The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH)'s partners pledged to strengthen and expand health systems. The partners agreed to improve multi-sectoral collaborations and align partnerships around national health strategies, and scale-up effective, people-oriented innovations to improve efficiency, impact, and reach. The Partners' Forum 2018 convened 1,631 participants from 429 organizations across 10 different constituencies and attracted 27 ministerial delegations and 23 parliamentarians across the globe.

Global leaders and other partners from PMNCH's diverse constituencies also took to the stage to reaffirm their commitment to urgent and effective action to improve the survival, health and well-being of women, children and adolescents. They committed to strong political leadership, multisectoral action and partnerships, and target setting and measurement for better accountability in line with the Survive, Thrive, Transform agenda of the UN Secretary-General's Global Strategy for Women's Children's and Adolescent's Health.

Preeti Sudan, Acting Board Chair, PMNCH said: "Transform is the common thread of discussion, and the common goal for us all. While initiatives to improve maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health are showing promise, we still have a way to go to achieve the related sustainable development goals. Much remains to be done to provide quality services across the life course, and to ensure that no one is left behind. We must work to transform, to make sure that we bring local lessons to a global audience and create impact in an innovative and sustainable manner."

The commitments demonstrate a growing momentum towards the development of stronger and more efficient health systems for women, children and adolescents. Since 2010, US$45 billion has been pledged to the Every Woman Every Child movement.

Helga Fogstad, Executive Director, PMNCH said: "We have come together because of a common vision: to ensure that every child survives, to thrive in their childhood and beyond, and to ensure that we all work together to transform the health and well-being of everyone everywhere, so that no woman, no child, and no adolescent is left behind. This cannot be done in isolation. PMNCH will implement an ambitious Business Plan 2019-2020 to transform the outcomes of the Forum into action on the ground."

The 2018 Partners' Forum was co-hosted by PMNCH and the Government of India. The two-day event brought together 1,600 participants from 85 countries in New Delhi across the ten diverse PMNCH constituencies: partner countries; donors and foundations; intergovernmental organizations; nongovernmental organizations; academic, research and training institutions; adolescents and youth; healthcare professional associations; private sector partners; UN agencies; and global financing mechanisms. Together, they garnered greater political momentum to realise the transformative agenda that will help to achieve the Global Strategy, the guiding path towards the Sustainable Development Goals.  

About the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (The Partnership, PMNCH) 

PMNCH is an alliance of more than 1000 organizations in 192 countries from the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health communities, as well as health influencing sectors. The Partnership provides a platform for organizations to align objectives, strategies and resources, and agree on interventions to improve women's children's and adolescents' health. The Partnership represents ten constituencies: partner countries; donors and foundations; intergovernmental organizations; non-governmental organizations; academic, research and training institutions; adolescents and youth; healthcare professional associations; private sector partners, UN agencies, and global financing mechanisms.

For more information: http://www.who.int/pmnch/en/ 

For more information and photos: http://www.partnersforum2018.com/events/partners-forum-2018/custom-35-2adb4099c5df41ed966d7ae4125d4a8a.aspx

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SOURCE Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health