Blog Posts - Zero Mothers Die

Zero Mothers Die Receives Generous Donation at Diplomatic Council Gala

12/2/2015

Dr. Veronique Thouvenot, co-founder of Zero Mothers Die; Secretary General Hang Nguyen, Diplomatic Council; our generous donor!

The Diplomatic Council invited Zero Mothers Die to their annual All Nations New Year’s Gala 2015 at the Grandhotel Hessischer Hof in Frankfurt as one of the 150 guests from diplomacy, economy and society. Our co-founder, Dr. Veronique Thouvenot, attended on behalf of the Zero Mothers Die initiative, which was highlighted at the Gala as a key social and humanitarian project supported by the Diplomatic Council.

Here is an excerpt from the Diplomatic Council's website: http://www.diplomatic-council.org/fr/dipomatic-council-new-years-gala-2015/

In line with the objective to assist the social commitment indicated in the TBL, Secretary General Hang Nguyen introduced three humanitarian and social projects that are supported by our Diplomatic Council: Tareto Maa fights against female genital mutilation and forced child marriages; White IT is an alliance against child abuse and Zero Mothers Die is a global initiative to save the lives of pregnant women and their newborns.

The Diplomatic Council’s social engagement has motivated two DC members to set a shining example: Wolfgang A. Braun, Chairman Global Wealth Forum, and Antonio Sommese, Director Global Wealth Forum, handed over a donation check of €1.000 to assist above-mentioned projects. A big thank you to both gentlemen! Their exemplary function has again incited an anonymous donator to add another € 2.000. As a result, all three projects will receive a donation of respectively € 1.000 each – we wish to express our sincere thanks on behalf of all children, young people and mothers who are preserved from a terrible fate!

We give a very special Thank You to our wonderful donor and to the Diplomatic Council!

About the Diplomatic Council:

The Diplomatic Council (DC) is a United Nations registered Civil Society Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The DC belongs to the “integrated Civil Society Organizations” (iCSO) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) which is responsible for the interaction between civil society organizations like the Diplomatic Council and the United Nations Organization.

To view photos from the event, see the album of Zero Mothers Die (below) or view the albums of the Diplomatic Council:

DC New Year´s Gala Reception 2015

Official Photos from the DC New Years Gala

Zero Mothers Die in the News: Successful Launch at UNGA

13/10/2014

Since our successful launch inside the United Nations headquarters during the UN General Assembly, Zero Mothers Die has been in featured in several articles that we're thrilled to share with you.

UNAIDS

Zero Mothers Die: bold new initiative launched at UN General Assembly event

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2014/september/20140922gawlf/

NEWSWEEK

By: Lucy Westcott

The $30 Pink Cellphone That Could Help Save the Lives of Pregnant Women

http://www.newsweek.com/30-pink-cellphone-could-help-save-lives-pregnant-women-272768

THE HUFFINGTON POST

By: Toyin Ojora-Saraki

Learning From the United Nations General Assembly 2014

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/toyin-ojorasaraki/united-nations-general-assembly-2014_b_5925670.html

MEDETEL

By: International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth

Zero Mothers Die launches Mum's Phone to save lives of pregnant women

WOMEN DELIVER

Women Deliver's UNGA Recap

http://www.womendeliver.org/updates/entry/women-delivers-unga-recap

KICKER

By: Rachel Reynolds

Here’s What the 2014 United Nations Is Doing and Why It Matters for Ordinary People

http://gokicker.com/2014/09/24/heres-2014-united-nations-matters-ordinary-people/

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS FORUM

5th Women Leaders Forum: Connecting Women’s Health and Girl’s Education for Scalable and Sustainable Development

http://www.partnerships.org/news/article/5th-women-leaders-forum-connecting-womens-health-and-girls-education-for-scalable-and-sustain/

SOUTHERN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

What Would You Do with the United Nations, a Hot Pink Cell Phone, and a Solar Panel? Save Lives Of Course!

http://sma.org/blog/2014/10/15/what-would-you-do-with-the-united-nations-a-hot-pink-cell-phone-and-a-solar-panel-save-lives-of-course/

Launch of Zero Mothers Die at Women Leaders Forum at UN Headquarters

2/10/2014

Left to right: Fatima Touré (representing ADA); Jeannine Lemaire (Coordinator, ZMD); Michel Sidibé (Executive Director, UNAIDS); Jordi Serrano Pons (Co-founder, ZMD); Christine Kaseba-Sata (First Lady, Zambia); Sylvia Bongo Ondimba (First Lady, Gabon); Cherie Blair (Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women); Veronique Thouvenot (Co-founder, ZMD); Kristie Holmes (Professor, USC); Gabriela Isler (Miss Universe); Nyasha Zimucha (Miss Africa); Subhi Quraishi (CEO, ZMQ); Amir Dossal (CEO, Global Partnerships Forum)

Zero Mothers Die officially launched by Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, at the Women Leaders Forum inside the UN Headquarter during the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.

Last week the 69th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) was held in NY, and we were honored to have been a part of it. On September 22nd inside the UN Headquarters, the 5th annual Women Leaders Forum took place as an official side event of the UNGA. Each year, this pivotal Forum brings together First Ladies, corporate executives and leaders in the international development and global health arena to address the digital development agenda. This year, the theme of the Forum was "Connecting Women's Health and Girls' Education for Scalable and Sustainable Development". It was the perfect stage to launch the global Zero Mothers Die campaign, a multi-stakeholder partnership initiative to bring mobile technologies into the hands of vulnerable pregnant women to reduce maternal mortality.

Special opening remarks were made by Her Excellency Madam Ban Soon-taek, Spouse of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Following a keynote by H.E. Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, the Zero Mothers Die panel was launched by Dr. Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, and the co-founders Dr. Veronique-Ines Thouvenot, Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons and Ms. Fatima Touré, who spoke on behalf of Mrs. Coumba Touré. The focus was on the ability of strong partnerships and technology to save the lives of pregnant women and newborns - and Zero Mothers Die embodies both of these key elements.

The Mum's Phone, a unique $30 mobile phone designed for pregnant women, was launched as a key element of Zero Mothers Die to highlight the need for technology to empower pregnant women themselves to access information and seek healthcare when needed. Mum's Phone enables them to do just that. To support the delivery of Mum's Phones to pregnant women, a crowdfunding campaign for Zero Mothers Die was launched during the panel, seeking contributions from anyone to sponsor Mum's Phones for pregnant women in the field.

During the panel, Her Excellency Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata, First Lady of Zambia, announced her full support for the project through the launch of Zero Mothers Die in Zambia. She herself is an Obstetrician and a mother who has experienced a difficult birth. Dr. Kaseba-Sata not only spoke as the First Lady, but also as the recently appointed Special Envoy for eHealth for the ITU, who believes strongly that technology can help to achieve zero maternal deaths.

Dr. Kaseba-Sata made a strong call for action on behalf of Zero Mothers Die to organizations and philanthropists around the world:

"I call on all organizations and philanthropists: invest in this campaign. One phone will make a difference in the lives of women in rural areas. Investing in women benefits everyone in the country. We all have the responsibility to save the 800 women that die everyday and ensure that zero mothers are dying. No woman, no baby, should die because the right information did not get to them in time. No one should die when we have ICTs, when we have the technology available. So make the decision to invest in the Zero Mothers Die campaign."

"I see this campaign as hope, especially for rural women, who in most cases have no contact with the health system. I believe through mobile health, women will have much needed information necessary to prompt health seeking actions."

"Even just one death is one too many. Zero maternal deaths are very possible"

- H.E. Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata, First Lady of Zambia

Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General of the UN International Telecommunications Union (ITU), also lent his support to the Zero Mothers Die campaign in a subsequent panel. He expressed the importance of an initiative like Zero Mothers Die in using communication technologies and connectivity to improve health outcomes, reduce the mobile phone gender gap and address the priority area of maternal mortality.

"Zero Mothers Die is an excellent example of the real power of partnership, and has been created and developed to save the lives of pregnant women, new mothers and their babies through mobile technologies.

This campaign will contribute significantly to raising the awareness of the potential of technology for health – particularly in low-resource settings – and will also contribute towards leveraging ICTs as a strategic game changer in achieving the WHO's Universal Health Coverage goal."

- Dr. Hamadoun Touré, Secretary General, ITU

The Women Leaders Forum also hosted the launch of the Global Sustainable Development Foundation (GSDF), which was formed under the leadership of the 68th President of the UN General Assembly, the Honourable, Dr. John Ashe. The mission of GSDF is to establish a globally recognised source of funds and data to accelerate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on six areas: Women & Children, Scientific Innovation, Finance & Resources, Culture, Media & Branding, and Partnerships.

Several speakers and panelists throughout the Women Leaders Forum voiced their support for the Zero Mothers Die global campaign - and we are very grateful to them. We would like to thank Mr. Amir Dossal and his tireless team at the Global Partnerships Forum, as well as Advanced Development for Africa, for co-hosting such an extraordinary event at the home of the United Nations.

UPDATE: Following our successful launch at the Women Leaders Forum, Newsweek published an article on the Mum's Phone:
http://www.newsweek.com/30-pink-cellphone-could-help-save-lives-pregnant-women-272768

About the Women Leaders Forum

Since 2010, ADA has been hosting annual Women Leaders Forums as official side events of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, in collaboration with key partners such as UNAIDS, PMNCH, ITU, Global Partnerships Forum & WITNET. Each year, the Women Leaders Forum brings together women leaders, First Ladies, and leaders from the development, technology, government and private sectors.

With a focus on how to connect women’s health and girl’s education to achieve scalable and sustainable development, this year’s Women Leaders Forum provided a platform for inspiring discussions on new avenues for youth participation, social impact investing and entrepreneurship and included the launch of a new campaign of ‘Zero Mothers Die’, which is a multi-partner initiative to eliminate maternal and child mortality.

For the official press release for the 2014 Forum, click here.
For a summary of the discussions at the Forum, click here.

Download the full program

Photo credits: Perry Bindelglass/GDSF

Global Partnerships Forum Joins Zero Mothers Die

15/9/2014

We're thrilled to announce that the Global Partnerships Forum is joining the Zero Mothers Die partnership as a technical partner!

About Global Partnerships Forum

The Global Partnerships Forum, led by Founder and Chairman Mr. Amir Dossal, serves as a platform for building innovative partnerships and alliances, through knowledge sharing. It brings together leaders from across sectors to address global challenges, and fosters economic growth to help achieve greater prosperity around the world, by moving beyond aid to economic empowerment.

The Global Partnerships Forum provides an enabling environment to collaborate with policy makers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, investors, and thought leaders from across sectors– to encourage investments that also promote social good. It provides lessons learned, best practice and information on projects that can have sustainable social impact.

To learn more about the Global Partnerships Forum and their initiatives, visit their website: http://partnerships.org

About Zero Mothers Die

Zero Mothers Die is a global partnership initiative co-founded by Advanced Development for Africa, Millennia2025 Foundation and the UniversalDoctor Project, to save the lives of pregnant women, new mothers and their babies using mobile technologies. Our aim is to reduce maternal mortality by using mobile technologies and cross-sector partnerships to support pregnant women and local health workers to overcome barriers to maternal, newborn and child health.

mWomen: Where Mobile Technology and Women Intersect

6/8/2014

By Kate DiMercurio: website and twitter
Cross-posted from ICT Works: http://www.ictworks.org/2014/08/06/mwomen-where-mobile-tech-and-women-intersect/

If you’re active on Twitter you’ve probably come across the hashtag #mWomen. mWomen is a new tagline referring to mobile tools and programs centered on the needs of women, usually those living in developing countries. Typical mWomen projects involve:

Promoting literacy and educational opportunities for girls and women through targeted SMS messages;
Improving access to health services and providing useful tips and advice to pregnant women, new mothers, families affected by HIV/AIDS or other communicable and non-communicable diseases alike through mobile channels;
Targeting female entrepreneurs, small business owners, and agricultural workers with relevant market information, up-to-date prices, weather reports, tips and advice for expanding their business or improving productivity.

For mWomen programs to take off, we need more women to be connected to the technology. At this time, roughly 300 million fewer women than men own mobile phones. This digital gender gap is greatest in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia; and it is a problem that the development community and mobile operators alike must address.

Why Does This Matter?

Considering that women are 21% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, and since we have documented the very real and tangible economic benefits that can result from mobile phone ownership, we really ought to take a look at why this is, and what (if anything) should be done to address this mobile gender gap.

What Are the Barriers to Mobile Phone Ownership?

According to research conducted by the GSMA, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, and Vital Wave Consulting the top five factors that affect mobile phone ownership by women are:

Household Income
Of women who participated in the survey, 80% of participants in the highest income brackets owned a mobile phone as compared to only 40% in the lowest income brackets. The biggest concern for women who did not already own a mobile phone was the cost of the handset followed by the monthly subscription costs.

Rural vs. Urban Location
All other factors being equal, a rural woman is 23% less likely than her urban counterpart to own a mobile phone. Rural women on average also have lower incomes than urban women, and are not as exposed to technology on a regular basis. In rural areas, mobile phone retail locations may be sparse, if they exist at all, making it more difficult to access the technology even if they want to.

Age
As we see in developed countries as well, younger users are much more likely to own and make more frequent use of their mobile phones. Older women cite feeling that they have no use for a mobile phone, especially if they already have a landline, or have gotten by for so many years without one. Age also contributes to one’s confidence in their ability to use the technology.

Occupation
The majority of businesswomen own mobile phones regardless of age, location, or income; as do students and many agricultural workers now. Homemakers are the least likely to own a mobile phone and the most likely to cite the cost and seeing no use for a phone as the reason for not owning one.

Education Level
Much as education level correlates to income level, so does it correlate to mobile phone ownership. The more educated a woman is, the more likely she is to own and use a mobile phone, and the more likely she is to know how to use the technology to improve her economic condition.

So What?

Across the board, the most common reasons for not owning a mobile phone were: cost of handset and/or monthly subscription too high, no perceived use for it, fear of not being able to use it, and lastly opposition from a family member or spouse. Any program that seeks to increase mobile participation by women needs to address these issues first.

Finally, in partnership with local developers, NGOs should be creating localized, relevant material and applications to use in their programming. Content that is relevant to the lives of women in their different cultural, religious, political, etc. contexts still does not exist where mobile phone penetration is low, which means the development community should be investing in this area.

If we focus on closing the digital gender gap by promoting mobile use and ownership by women we could dramatically improve development impacts. This can only happen by first recognizing the barriers the prevent women from owning or using mobile phones and by engaging their friends and family members in the process. We must promote community buy-in, and provide sufficient incentives to encourage participation. Let’s make this the focus of the mWomen movement.

Kate DiMercurio is a Vermont transplant in the Bay Area of California, a development and social change manager by training, and an #ICT4D enthusiast excited by the possibilities of using technology to create meaningful and sustainable social change. Check out her website or follow her on Twitter to learn more about topics like this!

This post was originally published on ICT Works: http://www.ictworks.org/2014/08/06/mwomen-where-mobile-tech-and-women-intersect/

Zero Mothers Die Featured in The Guardian

23/7/2014

Zero Mothers Die is featured in a Live Q&A discussion hosted by The Guardian on the topic of whether technology could accelerate progress towards the MDGs, alongside great mobile for development initiatives such as M-Pesa:

Projects such as Zero mothers die, have sought to improve maternal and child mortality rates, by using mobile phones to disseminate vital information to communities lacking in health infrastructure. In agriculture, providers such as IKSL have used a similar technology to share useful market and crop information with 1.3 million farmers across 18 states of India. In Kenya and Tanzania, M Pesa has successfully enabled millions of individuals left out of the conventional banking system, to deposit and withdraw money on a mobile phone.

The panel for the discussion included many seasoned development professionals:

PanelDanny Sriskandarajah, secretary general, Civicus, Johannesburg, South Africa. @civicusSG
Danny is head of Civicus a global alliance of civil society working on Data Shift, which aims to use technology to improve social accountability.

Delia Lloyd, senior policy manager, BBC Media Action, London, UK. @realdelia
Delia works at BBC Media Action, where they have been using a wide variety of technology in their projects.

Ida Jeng, director of global communication and strategy, Refugees United, Nairobi, Kenya. @idajeng
Ida works at Refugees United, a nonprofit organisation that aims to reconnect separated refugee families through mobile.

Andrew G Mandelbaum, director of programmes, SimSim-Participation Citoyenne, Rabat, Morocco. @SimSimPCM
Andrew works at SimSim, a civil society organisation that uses technology to help citizens participate in public decision-making.

Monica Cuba Iriarte, communicatons chief, Bolivia, Practical Action Bolivia, La Paz, Bolivia. @PracticalAction
As head of communications, Monica has a particular interest in technology, education and environmental conservation.

Arvin Bunker, senior food security advisor, Crown Agents USA, Kansas City, US. @crownagents
Previous to his current role, Arvin has worked on smart-card based technology for agriculture and rural sector finance.

Ranjit Devraj, regional coordinator for South Asia, SciDev.Net , New Delhi, India. @SciDevNet_SA
Ranjit is the South Asia regional coordinator and formerly Asia Pacific regional editor for the Inter Press Service news agency.

Raul Zambrano, senior policy advisor, UNDP, New York City, US. @raulza
Raúl is the senior policy adviser in the ICT for development and e-governance team at the UNDP in New York.

Samia Melhem, lead policy officer, World Bank Washington D.C. US. @WorldBank
Samia provides technical advise on egovernment and ICT for public sector management at a global scale at the World Bank Group.

Read the results of the discussion in the comments of the article here: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/may/09/technology-mdgs-development-live-chat

Zero Mothers Die at the PMNCH Partners' Forum

1/7/2014

Jordi Serrano Pons (Zero Mothers Die), Sheila Tlou (Regional Director, UNAIDS & former Minister of Health, Botswana), Jeannine Lemaire (Zero Mothers Die)

Jordi Serrano Pons and Jeannine Lemaire participated as representatives of Zero Mothers Die in the key discussions during the 2014 PMNCH Partners' Forum in Johannesburg to identify targets for healthy women and children for the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

Dr. Serrano and Ms. Lemaire were also invited to the high-level session during which GSMA launched their mHealth cross-ecosystem partnership designed to provide a range of mHealth services to 15.5 million pregnant women, mothers and children under five across Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on nutrition and HIV/AIDS. Professor Sheila Tlou, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa and former Minister of Health of Botswana, spoke on behalf of UNAIDS and Zero Mothers Die at the launch event, alongside CEOs of Samsung, MTN and Mobilium, as well as chief executives from Merck for Mothers, MDG Health Alliance, PATH and others.

Summary of the Partners' Forum
The PMNCH Partners' Forum sessions and plenaries were insightful and critical to bringing together the public, private and non-profit sectors to not only discuss but collaborate on solutions for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH). Leading experts discussed the following topics at key sessions:

the necessity for data, accountability, and equitable access to care,
key areas of HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, immunization, NCDs, and quality care at birth,
investing in adolescents
success factors in-country for women's and children's health,
addressing the digital divide and gender gap,
scaling up and leveraging innovations, solutions and partnerships for improving MNCH
and more.

Two key reports were also launched at the forum:

Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP)
Landmark global action plan outlines strategy to prevent 2.9 million newborn deaths [led by WHO and UNICEF]

Download full PDF [8.8 mb]
Download Executive Summary [3.72 mb]

Countdown to 2015 and beyond: Fulfilling the Health Agenda for Women and Children
'Unfinished business' on maternal and child health needs to be addressed now and prioritized in post-2015 health and development frameworks.

Download full report

As the Forum draws to a close, Zero Mothers Die looks forward to bringing the key information discussed into practice through our advocacy and programmatic work in countries.

Related Post:
Zero Mothers Die Joins 800 Leaders in Johannesburg for the PMNCH Partners' Forum

Zero Mothers Die Joins 800 Leaders in Johannesburg for the PMNCH Partners' Forum

28/6/2014

Zero Mothers Die will join 800 other leading global health professionals, policy makers, business leaders, advocates and youth leaders at the 2014 PMNCH Partners' Forum, a two-day meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa from 30 June to 1 July.

The Partners’ Forum will be a pivotal moment to review progress, identify factors for success, and agree on commitments for action to help women, newborns, children and adolescents survive and thrive. The Forum will be chaired by Graça Machel, Chair of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) and Ambassador for A Promise Renewed. The meeting will be hosted by the Government of South Africa in partnership with PMNCH; USAID and UNICEF for A Promise Renewed; Countdown to 2015; and the independent Expert Review Group.

The two-day meeting of partners in maternal, newborn and child health will feature high-level speakers such as Margaret Chan (WHO Director-General), Graça Machel (former First Lady of South Africa and PMNCH Board Chair), HRH Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu (Minister of Health of Nigeria), Jeffrey Sachs (UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the MDGs) and many more. A number of high-profile reports on women and children’s health, including the Countdown to 2015 Report and the Every Newborn Action Plan, will be launched at the event.

To follow along, watch the live webcast here, that will start Monday, June 30th at 09:00 Johannesburg time and follow #PMNCHLive on Twitter for live updates from the event!

Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons and Jeannine Lemaire are representing Zero Mothers Die at the PMNCH Partners' Forum. To arrange a meeting with us while in Johannesburg, send an email to [email protected].

More info:

Key Reports Launched on Midwifery, Mothers and Maternal Mortality - new light on Maternal Health

9/6/2014

Three key reports were recently launched, shedding new light on the current situation of Mothers, Maternal Health and Midwifery in the world today:

The State of the World's Midwifery 2014 (UNFPA & others)
State of the World's Mothers 2014 (Save the Children)
Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 - 2013 (WHO & others)

The State of the World's Midwifery 2014

The State of the World’s Midwifery (SoWMy) 2014 presents findings on midwifery from 73 low and middle- income countries. The report, produced by UNFPA, the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM), the World Health Organization (WHO) and several other partners, shows the progress and trends that have taken place since the inaugural 2011 edition, and also identifies the barriers and challenges to future progress. The report focuses on the urgent need to improve the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of midwifery services. Despite a steady drop in maternal and newborn deaths since 1990, hundreds of thousands of women and newborns continue to die each year during pregnancy and childbirth: An estimated 289,000 women and about 3 million newborn babies died in 2013 alone. The vast majority lost their lives due to complications and illnesses that could have been prevented with proper antenatal care and the presence of a skilled midwife during delivery.

State of the World's Mothers 2014

The State of the World's Mothers Report 2014 is an annual report by Save the Children, which compiles statistics on the health of mothers and children and produces rankings of more than 170 countries, showing where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardships. The rankings are presented in the Mothers’ Index, which has been produced annually since the year 2000.

The 2014 report examines the impact of humanitarian crises on maternal, newborn and child survival in countries consistently ranked as the most difficult places to be a mother.

Key findings: Each day, an estimated 800 mothers and 18,000 young children die from largely preventable causes. Over half of these maternal and under-5 deaths take place in fragile settings, which are at high risk of conflict and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 - 2013

Globally, there were an estimated 289 000 maternal deaths in 2013, a decline of 45% from 1990. The sub- Saharan Africa region alone accounted for 62% (179 000) of global deaths followed by Southern Asia at 24%. At the country level, the two countries that accounted for one third of all global maternal deaths are India at 17% (50 000) and Nigeria at 14% (40 000).

It has been a challenge to assess the extent of progress due to the lack of reliable and accurate maternal mortality data – particularly in developing-country settings where maternal mortality is high. Less than 40% of countries have a complete civil registration system with good attribution of cause of death, which is necessary for the accurate measurement of maternal mortality.

Therefore, as part of on going efforts, the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, The World Bank and the United Nations Population Division updated estimates of maternal mortality for the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2013, released in this new report: Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990-2013

Zero Mothers Die Featured on mHealth Competence Center of Mobile World Capital Barcelona

11/5/2014

The mHealth Competence Center of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona Foundation has released an article on how Zero Mothers Die is helping to reduce maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa through the use of mobile technologies.

The concept came up two years ago in Geneva, at the Global Health Dynamics Roundtable, where the three co-founders of Zero Mothers Die met: Dr Coumba Touré, founder of Advanced Development for Africa Foundation (ADA); Dr. Veronique Thouvenot, co-founder of Millennia2025 Foundation and Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons, CEO of Universal Doctor Project. Together, they acknowledged the critical situation of maternal mortality in the world and decided to join forces.

Click here to read the full article.

Please share with your networks!