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MDG5 Meshwork Newsletter August 2011 This is the internal newsletter of the MDG5 Meshwork for Improving Maternal Health, brought to you by the Linking & Learning team. This newsletter will keep partners and interested up-to-date on the latest news and progress in the different projects (the Private-Public Partnerships, PPPs), meetings and relevant new publications. The MDG5 Meshwork for Improving Maternal Health is a cross-sector, cross-disciplinary network of organizations based in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and the Netherlands. The purpose of the Meshwork is to develop innovative and effective partnerships that contribute to the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 5, to improve maternal health. Highlights from the MDG5 Meshwork Projects: Did you miss a newsletter? You can read previous issues here: Sign up Share-Net newsletter
Highlights from the Projects
MDG5 Meshwork at 29th ICM Congress Many of our partners were present like Cordaid, Afghan Midwives Association (AMA), University of Midwifery Education & Studies (AVM), Centre for Human Emergence (CHE NL), Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Royal Dutch Organisation of Midwives (KNOV), Sierra Leone Midwives Association (SLMA), the schools for Midwifery in Freetown and Makeni and of course ICM. Together with the midwives of the Twin-to-Twin project there were more than 70 MDG5 Meshwork participants. During the Congress opening ceremony on Sunday, June 19, ICM president Bridget Lynch publicly thanked the Dutch Government for their long standing support to midwifery and gave a special thanks for their support to the twinning and other MDG5 Meshwork activities. Theme of our contribution to the congress participants in our booth and of our activities in the Exhibition Hall was: Which Piece of the puzzle do you hold?, inviting people into meaningful conversations. It was great to share knowledge, best practices and experiences with others from all over the world, working towards the same goal: achieving MDG5. In short the results and effects of the Durban event were: Daily released newsflashes and other MDG5 Meshwork can be found on our website www.mdg5-meshwork.org. A full report on the conference will be released soon on our website. For more information on the congress visit ICM’s website www.internationalmidwives.org. Expert meeting: Healthy Nations, Wealthy Economies The meeting was organized as a response to current developments in Dutch international development policy. Recently, the Dutch government has decided to scale back Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.8% to 0.7% of GNI. Stimulating economic development will drive support and investments of Dutch international development aid. Although SRHR remained one of the four focal areas this field will be affected as well. Therefore this symposium discussed and shared the economic benefits of investing in SRHR and HIV/AIDS. Experts from India, Washington and the Netherlands and an audience of more than 40 people from Dutch non-profit organizations, universities, research institutes and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gathered in the reading room of KIT for some interesting and evoking presentations and lively debate! Please find the full report and presenations on our website. Strengthened collabortion & joint planning in the PPP Sierra Leone The meeting was also an opportunity to introduce Cordaid’s new Programme Officer, Julie Love. Her predecessor, Jennie van de Weerd, was one of a group of Steering Committee Members from both countries to attend the International Midwives Congress in Durban in June. There was considerable interest at the conference in the experiences with the twinning of Midwives Associations and the Twin-to-Twin initiative which links individuals and the Congress was a valuable learning opportunity. The Dutch Steering Committee met recently on 9 August to start preparations for the joint planning exercise to be held with the Steering Committee and stakeholders in Sierra Leone on 9 and 10 September. Mother's Night evokes commitment from State Secretary The venue of the final event, Plein in The Hague, was decorated with 35 silhouettes each representing 10.000 women. Each year still 35.000 women die due to complications during pregnancy and child birth.Knapenresponded to the Mother's Night's position and recommendations and answered additional questions from various participating organizations. He pledged his support: It is essential that the international community take a tough commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for girls and women. 'The Netherlands especially can offer special skills and expertise in this field', State Secretary Knapen declared this while accepting the Mother's Night's campaign petition. For a short report on the final event visit the Mother's Night website. The campaign began with the opening of a photographic exhibition on maternal mortality and sexual and reproductive rights of women in developing countries. This happened on April 28 in the States of the Passage House, where Gerdi Verbeet, Chamber President, opened the ceremony. In the following period followed about 15 actions, all initiated by either students, civil society organizations or single individuals, occured throughout the Netherlands. Watch the video on the 2011 Mother's Night campaign here. Continued midwifery education in Afghanistan despite all challenges New developments Oxytocin project The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs will host a conference in October to discuss the latest research in uterotonics to reduce postpartum haemorrhage related morbidity and mortality. The meeting will bring together bilateral agencies, UN agencies, researchers, policy makers and the pharmaceutical industry. The objective is to identify priorities for further research and development and give clear policy messages based on current evidence. A representation of the MDG5 Meshwork will be present at the conference. Use of the MDG5 Meshwork logo The team developed four scenarios, in which you (1) either communicate on behalf of the MDG5 Meshwork as a whole, (2) on behalf of a project including the partners in the project, (3) on behalf of one or more of the partner organizations, where the subject of communication falls within the scope of the MDG5 Meshwork, or (4) on behalf of one or more of the partner organizations, where the subject of communication falls outside the scope of the MDG5 Meshwork. For each scenario the team made a recommendation. Please read the guideline which can be found on our website. Also the MDG5 Meshwork logo, flyer and any other relevant communication material can be found on the website as of today. Find all your relevant literature through the Maternal Health Portal Many interesting articles have been published lately such as the State of World's Midwifery Report, which was launced at the ICM Congress in Durban. Another must-read is the systematic review by Julia Hussein and colleagues on the effectiveness of primary level referral systems for emergency maternity care in developing countries . . A. . . ..... Keep up to date through our website If you like a short introduction, or if you have any other question regarding the website, you can make an appointment with the Linking & Learning coordinator by sending an e-mail to info@mdg5-meshwork.org. Keep up to date through our website
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