20th anniversary of the Safe Motherhood movement.

The United Nations Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, was the venue for a technical briefing held on 22 May 2007, to mark the 20th anniversary of the Safe Motherhood Initiative. The meeting was organised by the WHO Dept of Making Pregnancy Safer and was attended by many of those present in Geneva for the World Health Assembly. Nester Moyo represented ICM.

The objective of the briefing was to increase commitments from donor governments, the private sector and other stakeholders to help tackle maternal and newborn mortality in Africa and Asia in particular.

The meeting of representatives from FIGO, Family Care International, ICM and governments of Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Ireland, Laos, Malawi, the Netherlands and the UK was chaired by the new Assistant Director General of the Family and Community Health Cluster, Mrs Daisy Mafubelu.

Sally Keeble, Member of Parliament, UK, highlighted the fact that even though the UK is quite well off health wise, there are still disadvantaged sections of the population. Care needs to be extended to increase access for these families.

Chantal Gillard, Member of Parliament, the Netherlands, stressed the need for more commitment to care for women and newborns in the low-resource countries--'Think beyond the skin colour!'.

Jill Sheffield, President, Family Care International briefed the audience about the upcoming conference in London, 'Women Deliver'. Ministers of finance are invited to this conference to sensitise them to the need for equitable distribution of resources in order to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality.

Dorothy Shaw, President, FIGO, discussed the role of FIGO in Safe Motherhood as a critical partner. She noted the effectiveness of collaborations among professionals and emphasised, among others, the positive effects of the collaboration between FIGO and ICM.

The Ministers of Health of Malawi, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Laos, Burundi, and Laos each gave a short presentation.

MoH Malawi: 'For maternal and neonatal health to improve we need to address poverty, increase political will, empower households and unite so that we act together for best results'.

Burkina Faso: 'It is important to include the ministers of finance so that there is a budget for reduction of maternal and neonatal deaths in the same way that governments have budgets on reduction of HIV and AIDS transmission'.

Bhutan: The world has now been informed--and it has been endorsed by WHO--that the prototype of the skilled attendant is the midwife. People should avoid using the term skilled attendant and just talk about midwives and increase their numbers. This has been done in Bhutan and it is working.

Nester commented: 'This was a worthwhile meeting--ICM's presence was felt and this will contribute to raising our profile. Contacts were made with people we do not usually have access to. Midwives and midwifery were well represented: it was highlighted by all that they are one critical tool required to reach MDGs 4 and 5'.