Women Deliver and Vestergaard Frandsen Announce Competition for Women Bloggers

“Women Bloggers Deliver” will award two female bloggers with a trip to Kenya to learn about clean water and women in development

6 April 2011, New York – Women Deliver, in partnership with Vestergaard Frandsen, announced today the launch of “Women Bloggers Deliver,” a competition that will send two female bloggers on a trip to Kakamega, Kenya to observe a unique public health campaign with a climate change component that will provide millions of girls and women with access to safe and clean drinking water. The winning bloggers will accompany community workers as they distribute LifeStraw® Family water filters to almost a million households, and watch as families and communities are transformed by this important public health intervention.

In April and May of 2011, LifeStraw® Family water filters will be distributed to approximately 90% of all households in the Western Province of Kenya in a groundbreaking program that links access to safe drinking water with low carbon development. The program, called “Carbon for Water,” will provide more than four million residents with quick access to safe drinking water at home. The program is led and solely funded by Vestergaard Frandsen (VF), a global company that specializes in complex emergency response and disease control textiles, including LifeStraw® Family. It is self-funded by VF and will be reimbursed by carbon financing.

“This competition will provide a unique opportunity for leading bloggers to travel to Kenya and observe the most important project yet to combine the power of climate change mitigation with public health,” said Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO of the Group, Vestergaard Frandsen. “I’m sure the winning bloggers will have the experience of a lifetime and will share their knowledge and insights with a very wide and influential audience.”

For one week in May, from May 14 to May 22, the bloggers will travel through Kenya’s Western Province, all expenses paid, to research and write about the campaign and the women whose lives are being affected. In sub-Saharan Africa, many girls and women spend hours a day collecting water, often walking miles in extreme conditions and on dangerous roads to fetch water and wood for fuel. This is time that could be better spent in school, as one in three girls in sub-Saharan Africa does not attend primary school and misses out on the opportunity to build a better future for herself and her family.

“The huge challenges in sub-Saharan Africa—poverty, access to safe and clean drinking water, access to family planning, maternal mortality—can only be tackled if women are central to the conversation,” said Jill Sheffield, president of Women Deliver. “We hope that this competition will harness women bloggers’ energy and passion to showcase women as not only part of the problem, but part of the solution.”

To honor the bloggers’ work and the work of Women Deliver in raising the profile of women from this community, the Emusanda Health Center in Kakamega will receive a long sought-after maternity ward donated by Vestergaard Frandsen with contributions from the blogosphere.

To learn more and apply for the competition, visit this link: http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/women-bloggers-deliver/

About Vestergaard Frandsen:
Vestergaard Frandsen is a European company specializing in complex emergency response and disease control products. The company operates under a unique Humanitarian Entrepreneurship business model. This “profit for a purpose” approach has turned humanitarian responsibility into its core business. Vestergaard Frandsen was founded in 1957 and has evolved into a multinational leader focused on helping to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. For more information please visit www.vestergaard-frandsen.com

About Women Deliver:
Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization that brings together voices from around the world to call for action for improved health and well-being for girls and women. Launched in 2007, Women Deliver works globally to generate political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 — to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health. Building from the groundbreaking conferences Women Deliver convened in 2007 and 2010, the initiative harnesses commitments, partnerships, and networks to help prevent the approximately 350,000 deaths of girls and women from pregnancy-related causes that occur every year. Women Deliver’s message is that maternal health is both a human right and a practical necessity for sustainable development. Invest in women—it pays. Visit www.womendeliver.org

Contact: Janna Oberdorf
joberdorf@womendeliver.org
+1 646-695-9124