In the margins of the 74th United Nations General Assembly, Every Woman Every Child will host a High Level Event and Reception – Delivering Together for the Health and Well-being of Women, Children and Adolescents to advance Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in partnership with the Government of Norway, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) and EWEC-LAC. The reception will feature welcome remarks from Ms. Amina J Mohammed, the UN Deputy Secretary General, a keynote address by H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia and Co-Chair of the EWEC High Level Steering Group, and remarks by Mr. Aksel Jakobsen, State Secretary of International Development of Norway. The reception is set to galvanize political commitments for the comprehensive UHC agenda and bring together political leaders and EWEC partners in two fireside chat discussions around access to primary health care (PHC) including strengthening health systems that provide comprehensive services for women, children and adolescents, in addition to highlighting the importance of multi-stakeholder partnerships for UHC
Notably during the reception, new and significant commitments made within the last year (September 2018 – September 2019) to women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health and wellbeing in support of Every Woman Every Child will be announced, which in turn will help advance the PHC and UHC agenda more broadly. Grounded in human rights, the Every Woman Every Child movement is a mutually agreed partnership that commits diverse actors, development partners and governments to work together to realize commitments made and to hold one another accountable for results.
According to PMNCH’s latest analysis, since 2010, EWEC partners have mobilized 724 commitments worth 88 billion USD by governments and multi-stakeholders cumulatively. More specifically, since the launch of the Updated Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030) in September 2015, EWEC has galvanized over 314 commitments worth 43 billion USD. Financial commitments increased from $35 billion in 2017 to almost $43 billion in 2018, largely driven by substantial commitments made by World Vision International and Plan International.
Many of these monumental commitments were mobilized by key EWEC partners including FP2020, the United Nations Foundation (UNF), and PMNCH during the 2018 PMNCH Partners’ Forum in New Delhi, India.
Commitments helping ensure that women, children and adolescents survive, thrive and transform their communities will be integral to the progress and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). New commitments will be announced by the Government of The Gambia, the Spouses of the CARICOM Leaders Action Network (SCLAN), World Vision International, Unilever, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), and Plan International among others. Many of the commitments made culminate in the provision of access to quality Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services including for family planning.
