To mark this year’s International Day of the Midwife, Women and Children First is proud to announce a half day meeting on global maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) advocacy on 6 May 2009. The meeting will be held at Church House, Westminster, London SW1 and will be co-hosted by The Royal College of Midwives.

The meeting will provide an update on progress and developments in the MNCH field and facilitate networking and improved collaboration on MNCH advocacy approaches.  The session will start with a keynote presentation on MNCH progress within the development and human rights context and will be followed by a moderated plenary session with health professionals, with a particular focus on scaling up health workers.

Women and Children First is a UK based international NGO at the forefront of working to achieve MDGs 4 & 5.  In March 2008 we organised an MNCH advocacy workshop and have, since then, facilitated more detailed planning and action for MNCH advocacy in the UK. More information can be found on our website: www.wcf-uk.org.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development, Ivan Lewis MP, will open the meeting, followed by Paul Hunt, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. Other speakers include Professor Anthony Costello, Director of UCL’s Centre for International Health and Development, Renee Van de Weerdt, Chief of the Maternal,Newborn and Child Health Section at UNICEF, Frances Day-Stirk, Vice-President of the International College of Midwives, and Dr Steve Greene, the new David Baum Fellow on the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health International Board.  The meeting will provide an opportunity for questions and discussion.

I do hope you will save the date for our meeting, which aims to maintain the momentum for collaborative advocacy on MNCH in the UK.  Invitations and a full agenda will follow shortly.

With best wishes

Yours sincerely

Ros Davies
Chief Executive