13-14 NOVEMBER | NEW DELHI-This year, the world pledged more than $40 billion in support of the goals set out by the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health, launched by the UN Secretary-General in September. PMNCH has been a key partner in the development of the Global Strategy, and in mobilizing commitments. From Pledges to Action, a Partners’ Forum on Women’s and Children’s Health, will bring together more than 1,000 partners from 50 countries to develop plans and strategies to advance those commitments, and to advocate for more. NGOs, government, UN, donors/foundations, health care professionals, academics and the private sector will meet to discuss next steps and to reaffirm their commitment to action.

Featured speakers include: Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India; Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Bience Gawanas, Social Affairs Commissioner of the African Union; C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health, Nigeria; and Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director, UNFPA. PMNCH Director Flavia Bustreo will introduce the Global Strategy and Julio Frenk, Chair of PMNCH, will summarize next steps to meeting the goals. Join our live webcast of the daily plenary sessions.

PMNCH's constituency groups have been instrumental in this process of mobilizing money and will meet this weekend to define concrete steps they will make to help achieve MDGs 4 & 5 and save women's and children's lives. The Forum brings together the six PMNCH constituency groups: governments, civil society non-governmental organizations, health professional associations, academic institutions, donors and foundations and multilateral organizations.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will deliver a welcome message to the Forum. Other featured speakers include:

• Pratibha Devisingh Patil, President of India;
• Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization;
• Bience Gawanas, Social Affairs Commissioner of the African Union;
• Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos, Minister of Health of Mexico; and
• Purnima Mane, Deputy Executive Director at UNFPA, speaking on behalf of the four agencies that make up the "Health 4, or H4", i.e., WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank.

PMNCH Director Flavia Bustreo will introduce the Global Strategy and Julio Frenk, Chair of PMNCH, will lead partners towards next steps to meeting the goals. Said Dr Frenk in his Welcome message:

“The 2010 Partners' Forum will see us come together to strengthen our resources for accountability, to share the knowledge and networks needed to scale-up models for change, and to deepen our connections across sectors and regions to enhance financing, policies and service delivery.

Our mission is clear: We must end this important year with a common program of work. This will allow all of us -- from governments to health professionals to civil society to the UN and the donor community and the private sector-- to play our part to consolidate commitments and speed progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.”

Concurrent thematic sessions

Concurrent Thematic Sessions will explore the key themes of the Forum:

• Community Voices and Partner Accountability
• Innovation for change and Scale-Up: Programmatic Implementation
• Change and Scale-Up: Technologies for MNCH
• Engaging Actors across Sectors
• Tracking Commitments and Outcomes

PMNCH constituencies

PMNCH's constituency groups have been instrumental in this process of mobilizing money and will meet this weekend to define concrete steps they will make to help achieve MDGs 4 & 5 and save women's and children's lives. The Forum brings together the six PMNCH constituency groups: governments, civil society non-governmental organizations, health professional associations, academic institutions, donors and foundations and multilateral organizations.

Innovations explored

The Partners Forum follows closely the mHealth Summit in Washington, DC, where the use of mobile technologies, even basic cell phones, to help meet the MDGs is being considered. A pre-Forum session will explore how mobile technology can help advance women and children's health.

In addition, an "Innovation Showcase" at the Forum will demonstrate recent innovations from many parts of the world that have potential to improve women's and children's health.

The 15 featured innovations include: an SMS Sex Education program from Indonesia; pocket-sized mobile ultrasound scanners; an inexpensive incubator for premature and/or low birth-weight babies that works without electricity; and the Life Straw, which removes 99.9 percent of waterborne bacteria and 98.7 percent of waterborne viruses and is powered only by suction.

Related documents

Full Press release: From Pledges to Action
Welcome messages from hosts PMNCH Chair and Minister of Health, India
Final agenda [pdf 269kb]
Speakers' biographies [pdf 141kb]