Maternal Health Challenges in Kenya: What New Research Evidence Shows

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

Maternal Health Challenges in Kenya: What Research Evidence Shows
Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m (Note new start time)
Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC
6th Floor Flom Auditorium
A light breakfast will be served
Please RSVP to globalhealth@wilsoncenter.org with your name and affiliation

The discussion will feature a live videoconference from Nairobi with:

Lawrence Ikamari, Director, Population Studies & Research Institute (PSRI)
Dr. Margaret Meme, MD, Former Head of Maternal and Child Health,
Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (Kenya)
Geoffrey Mumia Osaaji, Professor, University of Nairobi
Additional panelists include 20+ participants from the in-country workshop

The Wilson Center’s Global Health Initiative is traveling to Nairobi to co-host a two-day workshop on July 12-13 with Kenyan policymakers, community health workers, program managers, media, and donors who will discuss Kenya’s maternal health challenges and identify solutions for moving the maternal health agenda forward.

Geoffrey Mumia Osaaji, professor, University of Nairobi, will present new maternal health data and discuss Kenya’s maternal mortality trends. Lawrence Ikamari, Director, PSRI, will share the knowledge and capacity gaps identified by workshop participants and highlight policies and funding priorities required to increase the uptake of antenatal and postnatal care in Kenya. Strategies and recommendations identified during the Nairobi workshop will be provided by Dr. Margaret Meme, former head of maternal and child health, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.

About the 2011 Maternal Health Policy Series
As one of the few forums dedicated to maternal health, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s 2011 Advancing Policy 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 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.