Improving Health Systems Through a Maternal Health Framework

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative, Environmental Change & Security Program, and Africa Program, in coordination with the Maternal Health Task Force, UNFPA, and African Population & Health Research Center invite you to a livestreamed discussion of:

Improving Health Systems Through a Maternal Health Framework

Featuring a live videoconference from Nairobi with local midwives,
policymakers, donors, field workers, and civil society representatives

Moderated by John Townsend, Vice President
Reproductive Health Programs, Population Council

Monday, October 17, 2011, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
5th Floor Conference Room
Please RSVP to globalhealth@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation
Coffee and breakfast will be served

Although there is no “magic bullet” for strengthening health systems recent evidence suggests that investing in maternal health services can significantly reduce the major causes of maternal mortality and improve equitable access to healthcare.

The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is returning to Nairobi and will co-host a two-day workshop on October 17-18 with Kenyan policymakers, community health workers, midwives, program managers, and donors who will identify key action steps for improving the health system through a maternal health framework. Live from the Nairobi workshop, Kenyan participants will share their strategies during a live videoconference with the Woodrow Wilson Center and engage in a lively discussion with the Washington audience about the recommendations created during the in-country session.

About the 2011 Maternal Health Dialogue Series
As one of the few forums dedicated to maternal health, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s 2011 Advancing Dialogue on Maternal Health series brings together senior-level policymakers, academic researchers, media, and civil servants from the U.S. government and foreign consuls to identify challenges and discuss strategies for advancing the maternal health agenda.

In order to promote greater voices from the field, the 2011 dialogue is partnering with the African Population and Health Research Center in Kenya to co-host a two-part dialogue series with local, regional, and national decision-makers on effective maternal health policies and programs. These in-country dialogue meetings will create a platform for field workers, policymakers, program managers, media, and donors to share research, disseminate lessons learned, and address concerns related to policy, institutional, and organizational capacity building.

The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is pleased to present this series with its co-conveners, the Maternal Health Task Force and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and is grateful to USAID’s Bureau for Global Health for further technical assistance.

If you are interested, but unable to attend the event, please tune into the live or archived webcast on the Wilson Center website. The webcast will begin approximately 10 minutes after the posted meeting time.