Celebrating Every Woman Every Child Reception
In his keynote address, the Secretary-General highlighted progress achieved through Every Woman Every Child, which serves as an inspiration and model to help implement the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development:
“During these past six years, I have visited priority countries with Every Woman Every Child. I have met the women and children who are at the core of our efforts, those who need us most. I have been moved by stories of hardship and triumph. And I have been inspired by the commitment of health workers and communities. I have also been inspired by you, our partners in this noble vision. I have seen the progress possible through innovation and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Every Woman Every Child is a beautiful model that can be replicated in so many settings.”
The UN Secretary-General was joined at the event by members of the High-level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child and commended their efforts championing the movement, as well as calling for commitments and political support at the highest levels. Mr. Ki-moon announced that the High-level Advisory Group will evolve into a Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child to help ensure that the movement continues strong, with leadership from many countries and leaders from many different sectors, keeping women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and wellbeing at the core of sustainable development efforts.
The UN Secretary-General also highlighted the Global Financing Facility in support of Every Woman Every Child, a pathfinder for innovative financing which will help implement this vision. During the event, the UN Secretary-General, Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim released The Global Financing Facility: Country Powered Investments in support of Every Woman, Every Child, which includes 31 statements by heads of state, governments, multilateral organizations, private companies, foundations, civil society organizations and others that demonstrate their commitment to the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in support of Every Woman Every Child.
New commitments in support of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health were announced at the event, corresponding to over $2 billion in pledges. The new pledges, which will be monitored and reported upon every year as part of broader SDG follow-up and review processes, will help improve the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents in all settings.
Pledges annouced at the event included a $2 billion commitment by Save the Children focusing on global health and nutrition work, in both development and humanitarian settings, for the period 2017-2021 and a commitment by the Caribbean Community focusing on opportunities to improve the lives of women and children by promoting partnerships, coordination and coherence in efforts in the region.
Pledges also included the creation of the BabyWASH Coalition—World Vision International, WaterAid, FHI 360, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and Action Against Hunger—a multi-stakeholder platform to increase the focus on integrating programmes for children and their caretakers in the first 1,000 days of life, as well as the renewal of the Inter-Parliamentary Union commitment to elevate women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health to the top of legislative agendas.
Please click here for a summary of all new commitments to the Global Strategy.
The event was closed by the UN Secretary-General Special Adviser on Agenda 2030 and Climate Change, Dr. David Nabarro, who received the first report of the Independent Accountability Panel “Old Challenges, New Hopes: Accountability for the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health,” presented by Ms. Carmem Barroso, Co-chair of the Panel. They were joined on stage by all IAP members, including its recently appointed new Co-chair, Mr. Kul Gautam, from Nepal.
In September 2015, world leaders agreed on a new set of global development goals, seeking to address some of the world’s biggest challenges: ending extreme poverty, ensuring health and wellbeing, reducing inequalities and tackling climate change, among other issues. This plan for people and planet is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents is central to its achievement.
“I am honoured to have spearheaded this movement since 2010. We have accomplished many things together. We have faced challenges and found solutions. My wish is for this community to continue strong, united and central to development efforts in the years to come so we can truly deliver health and well-being for women, children and adolescents everywhere. That is the route to a more prosperous, more inclusive and more equitable future. Let us leave no one behind,” concluded the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
High-level speakers at the reception included:
H.E. Ms. Erna Solberg, Prime Minister of Norway
H.E. Mr. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
H.E Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ethiopia
H.E. Dr. Awa Marie Coll Seck, Minister of Health and Social Action of the Republic of Senegal
H.E. Rt Hon Baroness Anelay of St Johns DBE, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
H.E. Mr. Peter M. Boehm, Deputy Minister of International Development, Canada
Ms. Sicily Kariuki, Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, Kenya
Mr. Melinda Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation;
Ms. Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO Save the Children International
Mr. Kevin Jenkins, CEO World Vision International
Mr. Robert Collymore, Chief Executive Officer, Safaricom Limited, Kenya
Ms. Sarina Prabasi, CEO WaterAid America
The Signature Wall
Guests at the reception were invited to sign a “Thank you” wall for the Secretary-General. The panel was filled with more than 300 signatures from representatives of the Every Woman Every Child community, who subscribed to the message below.
THANK YOU!
UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Under your guidance since its launch in 2010, Every Woman Every Child has been recognised as an unprecedented global movement mobilizing and intensifying international and national action to address the major health challenges affecting women, children and adolescents worldwide.
We have held true to the belief, as you do, that every woman, every child and every adolescent, everywhere must be prioritized and have access to all they need to not only survive, but thrive and be able to transform the world.
We are honored to have you as a champion of this movement, and deeply appreciate your leadership to ensure that these issues remain a priority in the years to come.
From all of us in the
Every Woman Every Child movement