Press Releases
2016 Press Releases
Over $2 billion in pledges for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and Wellbeing, 22 September 2016
Twenty-three new commitments, corresponding to over $2 billion in pledges for women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and wellbeing were announced on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
Secretary-General, in Message for World Tuberculosis Day, Says Total Victory over Epidemic Will Require United Front, 22 March 2016
Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for World Tuberculosis Day, observed on 24 March.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented today with Delivering for Girls and Women Award, 15 March 2016
On the occasion of the Commission on the Status of Women’s annual meeting and during an Every Woman Every Child event at UN headquarters, Women Deliver presented the first-ever ‘Delivering for Girls and Women’ award to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
UN Secretary-General Announces Members of the High-Level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child, 21 January 2016
Group includes leaders from governments, business community, philanthropists, young people’s network and civil society to champion women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health.
2015 Press Releases
Essential Health Needs of Women Often Neglected in Assistance after Natural Disasters, Conflicts, 03 December 2015.
UNFPA’s State of World Population 2015 sets new agenda for humanitarian response to step up support for millions left behind.
New Global Partnership, RHD Action, Calls on World Leaders to End Rheumatic Heart Disease, 29 September 2015.
RHD Action, a new global movement to end rheumatic heart disease (RHD), launched today on the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
UN Secretary-General Announces $25 Billion in Initial Commitments to End Preventable Deaths of Women, Children, and Adolescents by 2013, 6 September 2015.
World leaders begin pledging support as Secretary-General launches the “Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health” to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals.
Consultation for the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, 6 May 2015
Hundreds of leaders and public health experts from across Africa are gathering today to identify game-changing interventions to accelerate progress towards improving the lives of millions of women, children and adolescents.
Millions of women & children get improved health services: Massive health program: $34 billion spent on women & children since 2010- New goal: end preventable deaths of women and young children, 10 March 2015
An ambitious 2010 initiative to improve the health of women and children around the world has turned into the fastest growing global public health partnership in history, attracting $60 billion in resources. Some $34 billion, nearly 60 percent of the total, has already been disbursed.
WHO Executive Board appoints Dr. Matshidiso Moeti as new Regional Director for Africa, 28 January 2015
The WHO Executive Board, currently holding its 136th session, has appointed Dr Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti as the new Regional Director for WHO’s Africa Region. Dr Moeti was nominated Regional Director by the health ministers of the 47 Member States of the WHO African Region at the annual Regional Committee for Africa in Cotonou, Benin, in November 2014. Dr Moeti will take up her appointment for a five-year term on 1 February 2015, succeeding Dr Luis Gomes Sambo who has served as Regional Director for the past 10 years.
World leaders make record-breaking commitment to protect poorest children with vaccines, 27 January 2015
Hundreds of millions of children living in the world’s poorest countries will receive life-saving vaccines as a result of record-breaking financial commitments made today at the Gavi Pledging Conference, hosted in Berlin by German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Private sector makes new pledges to support childhood immunisation in developing countries, 26 January 2015
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance today welcomed new commitments from a number of private sector partners towards its mission to immunise children in developing countries.
2014 Press Releases
- Half a billion children vaccinated and seven million lives saved thanks to Gavi partners, 22 December 2015
- US approves US$ 200 million for Gavi in fiscal year 2015 budget, 17 December 2014
- World AIDS Day: Statement from independent Expert Review Group, 1 December 2014
- International Day for Discrimination of Violence Against Women 2014: beyond the health sector: Statement from the independent Expert Review Group, 25 November 2014
- World Toilet Day: UN Press Release, 19 November 2014.
- World Prematurity Day:Statement from the independent Expert Review Group, 17 November 2014
- Pneumonia prevention and care available for every child is key to defeat world’s #1 infectious killer of children, 12 November 2014
- World Pneumonia Day:Statement from the independent Expert Review Group, 12 November 2014
- New Report Shows More Women And Girls Have Access To Contraceptives In The World’s Poorest Countries, 3 November 2014
- Philips pledges support to the United Nations initiative Every Woman Every Child, 26 September 2014
- Development Partners Support the Creation of Global Financing Facility to Advance Women’s and Children’s Health, 25 September 2014
- Medtronic Announces $6 Million Philanthropic Effort to Prevent and Control Rheumatic Heart Disease, 25 September 2014
- Making sure every mother and every child counts: Canadians lead global fund for the world’s poorest mothers and children, 25 September 2014
- Global partners moblize up to $4.46 billion to accelerate Health-related Millennium Development Goals and end all preventable deaths of women and children, 25 September 2014
- Development Partners Support the Creation of Global Financing Facility to Advance Women’s and Children’s Health, 25 September 2014
- Canada funds 22 innovative projects to help save ‘Every Woman, Every Child’, 22 September 2014
- Malaria Prevention during Pregnancy Improves Health of Mothers and Babies, 9 July 2014
- Significant New Financing, Policy and Service Delivery Commitments Made Towards Preventing Newborn Deaths and Stillbirths, 30 June 2014
- UN Foundation CEO & President Kathy Calvin: Progress against Polio and Measles is Possible When the World Makes Children’s Health a Top Priority, 27 March 2014
- 7 Million Premature Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution, 25 March 2014
- Uniting against violence and HIV, 12 March 2014
- Global Leaders Call for Greater Investments in Girls and Women, 10 March 2014
- Girls Must Be Educated, Safe, Health and Counted to Achieve our development Goals, 7 March 2014
- Statement of the MDG Advocates on International Women’s Day, 7 March 2014
- New Commitment On South-South Cooperation Announced In Support
Of Women’s, Children’s Health, 25 February 2014 - MDG Advocates Call For Investing In Girls’ Empowerment to Accelerate Progress on Millennium Development Goals, 23 January 2014
- At Davos, MDG 4 Acceleration Roadmap Presented, 23 January 2014
2013 Press Releases
- Message of UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on International Human Rights Day, 9 December 2013
- Celebrating Giving Tuesday, how to give effectively, 2 December 2013
- Improved Use of Toilets Boosts Childhood Test Scores, Decreases Stunting, 18 November 2013
- Leading Health and Philanthropic Organizations Outline Plan to Address Global Burden of Birth, 14 November 2013
- Countries with Greatest Family Planning Needs Lead Progress to Expand Access to Contraceptives, 13 November 2013
- Business Leaders Call on Companies to Increase Partition in Improving Health in India, 13 No New Co-Chair: Every Woman Every Child Innovation Working Group, 7 November 2013
- New Co-Chair: Every Woman Every Child Innovation Working Group, 7 November 2013
- The Independent Expert Review Group (iERG) on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, 22 September 2013
- New Data Shows Global Reduction in Child Mortality, 12 September 2013
- International Partners seek to reduce inequities that lead to maternal and child deaths in the Americas, 27 August 2013
- World Vision response to Lancet series on nutrition, 7 June 2013
2012 Press Releases
- A New Global Focus on Preterm Births, 16 November 2012
- UN Commission sets out plan to make life-saving health supplies more accessible, 26 September 2012
- Unprecedented Global Health Movement Yields Gains for Women’s and Children’s Health, 25 September 2012
- $20 Billion for Women’s and Children’s Health, 24 September 2012
- The UN Foundation makes significant progress on commitment to improve women’s and children’s health, in support of Every Woman Every Child, 24 September 2012
- Infosys Commits to End Child Diarrheal Deaths in India, 16 August 2012
- UN Launches Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, 23 March 2012
- Leaders Discuss Priority Health Commodities that Save Women’s and Children’s Lives, 17 April 2012
- Save the Children Launches Report on Malnutrition in Support of Every Woman Every Child, 15 February 2012
- Fashion Industry Moves to Support Women and Youth, 14 February 2012
2011 Press Releases
- The Innovation Working Group and the mHealth Alliance Announce Grantees to Improve Womens’ and Children’s Health Using Mobile Technology, 19 December 2011
- Anne Geddes Joins United Nations’ Every Woman Every Child Effort, Increasing her Philanthropic Commitments to Help Women and Children, 19 December 2011
- Q&A in The Globe and Mail with World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan on the Every Woman Every Child effort and its potential benefits for women and children around the world, 21 November 2011
- Secretary-General, at Bangladesh Every Woman Every Child Event, Urges Expansion Of Global Compact Network for Benefit of Society’s Poorest, Most Vulnerable, 15 November 2011
- Massive Push to Improve the Health of Women and Children: Tens of billions have been committed from both rich and poor countries, 20 September 2011
- Private sector involvement in women’s and children’s health is crucial to saving 16 million lives, says UN Secretary-General, 20 September 2011
- Innovating to improve women’s and children’s health: New Report identifies self-sustaining approach to development, 12 September 2011
- Adequate Midwifery Could Save 3.6 Million Lives, New Report Shows, 20 June 2011
- Donors Commit Vaccine Funding to Achieve Historic Milestone, 13 June 2011
- New Commitments to Save Women and Children, 19 May 2011
- Advance Copy of the Report of the Accountability Commission Released During the World Health Assembly, 19 May 2011. Also available in French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Arabic.
- Women and Children to Benefit from New Recommendations to Improve Health Accountability, 2 May 2011. Also available in French.
- 2.6 Million Babies Stillborn in 2009: New Global and Country Estimates Published in Lancet Series, 14 April 2011
- Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Issues Message to Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, 25 January 2011
2010 Press Releases
- UN Establishes High-Level Commission to Track Results and Resources for Women’s and Children’s Health, 16 December 2010
- Malaria Report Shows Rapid Progress Towards International Targets, 14 December 2010
- 2010 Report for the Global Campaign for the Health Millenium Development Goals, 12 November 2010
- Cell Phones Help Save the Lives of Mothers, Infants and Children, 8-10 November 2010
- UN Summit Launches Drive to Save the Lives of More Than 16 Million Women and Children, 6:00 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, 22 September 2010
- UN Summit Concludes With the Adoption of Global Action Plan to Achieve Development Goals by 2015, 22 September 2010
- 2010 Emerges As Historic Year of Decisive Action to Save the Lives of More Than 10 Million Women and Children by 2015, 8:30 a.m. EST, Monday, 7 June 2010
Every Woman Every Child Progress 2012
Media enquiries:
Lori Adelman, +1 609 287 4521
ladelman@unfoundation.org
Charlotte Scaddan, +1 917 367 9378
scaddan@un.org
NEW YORK, NY: Tuesday September 25, 2012— Since its launch in September 2010, the Every Woman Every Child movement, led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has helped catalyze new attention and investment to some of the most neglected causes of women’s and children’s mortality. Through unprecedented global coordination and partnerships, the movement has leveraged more than $20 billion in new money to save the lives of 16 million women and children by 2015. As of now, $10 billion has already been disbursed.
The movement counts more than 250 individual commitments by more than 100 partners, including low-income countries, donor governments, the UN, the private sector and civil society. Results of the joint efforts of these partners, and new commitments to spur even greater progress, will be announced tonight at a special dinner in New York to be hosted by the UN Secretary-General for senior leaders attending the UN General Assembly.
“In just two years, Every Woman Every Child has achieved important results in accelerating progress for women and children,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.” I am encouraged that so many global leaders have galvanized action around key issues like family planning, child survival and access to essential commodities. Even in these times of austerity, there is no better investment than the health of women and children.”
Despite faltering investment in development overall, the past year has seen remarkable energy relating to women’s and children’s health, including the launch of A Promise Renewed, a sustained, global effort to save children’s lives, and $2.6 billion in new commitments to family planning made at the London Summit for Family Planning in July. This push was led by a wide number of donors from both high-income and low-income countries, including the UK Government, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNFPA, the governments of Norway, France and others.
Other commitments this year have targeted key issues such as improving the prevention and care of preterm births, as well as the launch of recommendations to support the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities in improving access to vital commodities proven to reduce deaths of women and children. This week’s announcements in New York also include an additional US$52m million for women’s and children’s health in Africa from the Government of Sweden, as well as a pledge from World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim to establish a special funding mechanism to enable donors to scale up their funding to meet the urgent needs related to MDGs 4 and 5, leveraging the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank’s fund for the poorest.
Such commitments are extremely timely. Progress towards achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and children remains slow in many countries, and gains are often fragile. MDG 4 calls for a two-thirds reduction in deaths among children under five, while MDG 5 calls for a three-quarters reduction in the maternal mortality ratio by 2015.
Although the number of child deaths has fallen by more than 40% since 1990, only 28 of the 74 most affected countries in the world are on-track to achieve the MDG 4 target. Similarly, while maternal deaths have dropped by nearly 50% since 1990, only 9 of the 74 countries are on track to achieve their agreed targets.
With much yet to do, the partners of Every Woman Every Child will meet this evening to redouble their resolve to reach the goals. Participants will hear evidence that progress is possible, even in a short period of time. For example, enough insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been procured to cover 73% of the at-risk population in Africa, from less than 2% a decade ago, helping to slash malaria mortality rates in the region by one-third. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months has risen from 26% a decade ago to 40% today, providing a sound nutritional start to life and ensuring critical protection against water-borne diseases and diarrhoea – a major cause of death of young children. Access to life-saving vaccines and Vitamin A has escalated dramatically as well, and are now within reach of 80% of those living in the most affected countries. And the training and deployment of community health workers has escalated dramatically in many countries, bringing care closer to home.
Progress on Every Woman Every Child is documented in a new report by the independent Expert Review Group, to be presented to the UN Secretary-General in New York this week. The report is produced by an independent panel of experts on the recommendation of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s health, chaired by President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. This accountability framework is a unique attribute of Every Woman Every Child, and will continue through 2015.
“The MDGs have catalyzed global commitments that have saved millions of lives, improved economies exponentially, and united the world in new ways,” said Ray Chambers, the UN Secretary-General’s MDG Advocate and Special Envoy for Malaria. “With the finishing line in sight, any slowdown now would undo years of progress – instead we need a big push to get us there, and there is no reason we can’t do it.”
About Every Woman Every Child
Every Woman Every Child aims to save the lives of 16 million women and children by 2015. It is an unprecedented global movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women and children around the world. The movement puts into action the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, which presents a roadmap on how to enhance financing, strengthen policy and improve service on the ground for the most vulnerable women and children.
Infosys Commits to End Child Diarrheal Deaths in India
Infosys Labs to Solve Critical Maternal and Child Health Challenges, in Support of the Every Woman Every Child Movement
Bangalore, India, August 16, 2012 – Infosys, a global leader in consulting and technology, today announced that it has made a commitment to work with the MDG Health Alliance, the United Nations Foundation, and the Clinton Health Access Initiative as anInnovation Partner for the India Public-Private Partnership to End Child Diarrheal Deaths,in support of the Every Woman Every Child movement. Under this program Infosys Labs, the research and innovation arm of Infosys, will institute an Innovation Co-creation Lab to explore ways that technology can be used to solve critical maternal and child health challenges.
Every Woman Every Child is an unprecedented global movement spearheaded by the UN Secretary-General to mobilize and intensify global action to improve the health of women and children. In India, the effort issupported by the India Public‐Private Partnership to End Child Diarrheal Deaths, with a vision to prevent deaths of more than 200,000 children under five years of age every year. This partnership will mobilize public and private sector stakeholders to achieve universal coverage of children in India through the intervention oforal rehydration solution (ORS) and zinc by 2015, thereby playing a critical role in preventing diarrheal deaths.
As Innovation Partner for the India Public-Private Partnership to End Child Diarrheal Deaths, Infosys is collaborating with the MDG Health Alliance, United Nations Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. The Innovation Co-creation Lab created by Infosys will facilitate the convergence of the initiative’s task force members onto a common forum offering tools, platforms, frameworks and processes to organize, manage and assist the co-creational interactions specific to this partnership.
Kathy Calvin, CEO, UN Foundation said, “”I commend Infosys on stepping up their commitment to women and children’s health by applying their unique strengths to help solve one of India’s biggest health challenges.”
Subu Goparaju, Senior Vice President and Head-Infosys Labs commented, “The India Public-Private Partnership has the potential to make a significant impact and reduce child deaths caused by diarrhea in India. Technology can play a significant role in enabling and enhancing collaboration between various stakeholders involved in this initiative and contribute towards developing affordable healthcare solutions. Infosys is committed to this cause and will provide a platform to drive joint innovation to develop affordable healthcare solutions for this initiative.”
Ray Chambers, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria and Chair, MDG Health Alliance, said, “We will not achieve our global goals for maternal and child health without making significant progress in India, where the greatest numbers of women die in childbirth and the greatest numbers of children die before reaching their fifth birthday.”
He further added, “We specifically welcome the commitment of Infosys to help us win the fight against diarrhea, one of the leading killers of children in India and we look forward to harnessing the extraordinary skills, talent and creativity of one of India’s leading companies to help us scale up the interventions (oral rehydration products and zinc) that could prevent 90% of child diarrheal deaths.”
Infosys Labs, the research and innovation arm of Infosys drives research across the ‘Building Tomorrow’s Enterprise’ mega trends that have the potential to transform client business. Healthcare economy is one of these mega trends which impacts both consumers as well enterprises. One of Infosys Labs’ focus areas is addressing the challenge of delivering affordable, preventive and patient centric healthcare.
About Infosys
Many of the world’s most successful organizations rely on the 151,000 people of Infosys to deliver measurable business value. Infosys provides business consulting, technology, engineering and outsourcing services to help clients in over 30 countries build tomorrow’s enterprise. N. R. Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, sits on the Board of Directors of the United Nations Foundation. For more information about Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), visit www.infosys.com
About Safe Harbor
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012 and on Form 6-K for the quarters ended September 30, 2011, December 31, 2011 and June 30, 2012.These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company.
About Every Woman Every Child
Launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit in September 2010, Every Woman Every Child aims to save the lives of 16 million women and children by 2015. It is an unprecedented global movement that mobilizes and intensifies international and national action by governments, multilaterals, the private sector and civil society to address the major health challenges facing women and children around the world. Every Woman Every Child puts into action the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, which presents a roadmap on how to enhance financing, strengthen policy and improve service on the ground for the most vulnerable women and children. For more information visit: www.everywomaneverychild.org.
For further information please contact:
The Americas
Danielle D’Angelo
Infosys Ltd, US
Phone: +1 5108595783
Danielle_Dangelo@infosys.com
Asia Pacific
Sarah Vanita Gideon
Infosys Ltd, India
Phone: +91 80 4156 4998
Sarah_Gideon@infosys.com
Australia
Cristin Balog
Infosys Ltd, Australia
Phone : +61 3 9860 2277
Cristin_Balog@infosys.com
EMEA
Priyanka Waghre
Infosys Ltd.
Phone: +91 80 4156 4999
Priyanka_Waghre@infosys.com