Dear Friends:

Thanks to many of you, September was a month when American voices helped press world leaders to do more to save the lives of women and their newborns. Whether calling for a new emancipation movement to unleash the world's greatest unexploited economic resource or appeals to make real the commitments necessary to address the greatest health inequity of the 21st century, Mothers Day Every Day champions spoke with one voice: When women survive childbirth, they give birth to healthier families, communities and nations.

Fresh from an appearance on National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show the day their new book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide was released, Pullitzer-Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn joined White Ribbon Alliance leaders Aparajita Gogoi of India and Jeremie Zoungrana of Rwanda at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Together they shared with a packed auditorium their frontline perspectives on the impact of maternal mortality in communities where women have little say and scarce access to life-saving care.

Nicholas and Sheryl, contended that maternal mortality is one of "four appalling realities" and most pervasive human rights violations, urged people to take direct action to support organizations empowering women in developing countries. Aparajita and Jeremie brought to life the profound changes only achievable when efforts to strengthen health systems are combined with community campaigns to influence attitudes and increase demand for services. Click here to see the webcast of the Wilson Center program and http://www.globalhealthtv.com/ for interviews by Global Health TV with Nicholas, Sheryl, Aparajita and Jeremie.

Wilson Center Panel (l to r): Aparajita Gogoi, CEDPA Country Director, India and National Coordinator, White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, India; Sheryl WuDunn; Geoffrey Dabelko, Wilson Center Environmental Change and Security Program Director; Nicholas Kristof; and Jeremie Zoungrana, JHPIEGO Country Director, Rwanda and National Advisor to White Ribbon Alliances in Burkina Faso and Rwanda.

That evening during a reception at the home of Tammy Haddad, a Mothers Day Every Day Advisor, was celebrated with a call to accelerate progress to save the lives of women and newborns at risk during pregnancy and childbirth. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative joined with Mother's Day Every Day co-founders CARE and White Ribbon Alliance to welcome a diverse crowd of enthusiastic activists, including a growing group of champions in the Obama administration and on Capitol Hill who see maternal health and women's empowerment as critical to global security, economic prosperity and peaceful sustainability. Media friends, including Politico and White House Correspondents Insider helped spread the word beyond the Beltway. Click here http://www.mothersdayeveryday.org/pressroom.cfm to hear what Sheryl and Nicholas had to say when questioned by Tammy and guests.

Half the Sky Reception (l to r): Aparajita Gogoi; Jeremie Zoungrana; Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, U.S. Dept. of State and Theresa Shaver, President & Executive Director, White Ribbon Alliance, Global Secretariat.

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn sign books at Mothers Day Every Day reception

One week later, when the Global Health Council and Johns Hopkins University Center for Global Health convened a seminar to answer the question Should health matter to the economic and environmental agenda outlined by the G20? Mothers Day Every Day Advisor Mark Dybul was there with a resounding yes. Mark, who as U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, directed the implementation of PEPFAR, knows firsthand the good that comes of high-profile U.S. leadership to tackle the longstanding challenges threatening global health and economic growth. Mark noted that unlike the global response to AIDS, despite pledges by world leaders and consensus on proven interventions to reduce maternal mortality, women dying in childbirth remains the only Millennium Development Goal where virtually no progress has been made and financial assistance to developing countries has declined. Click here to watch the panel discussion.

And, when world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and prepared for the G20 deliberations in Pittsburgh, mounting concerns that the global economic crisis would mean more debt and less aid for developing countries were challenged while calls for investments in women's health was heard loud and clear.

The Clinton Global Initiative shone a spotlight on organizations with exemplary achievements empowering girls and women, including the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative, CARE and Vital Voices, recognizing that solutions that support girls and women around the world improve entire communities and drive economic progress. Helene Gayle was joined by Mothers Day Every Day advisors Anita McBride, Ann Veneman, Tammy Haddad and Melanne Verveer to celebrate release of the Center for Global Development's new report – Start with a girl: A new agenda for global health. Helene, along with others serving on the report's advisory panel, including Sarah Brown, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus were on hand to boost the report's compelling findings and its simple message: Invest in a girl and she will do the rest.

Cipriani 42nd Street was the place to be for the 300 high-powered women at the Important Dinner for Women hosted by Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Wendi Murdoch and Indra Nooyi where impassioned speeches and the screening of the short film Birth and Death prompted an outpouring of new pledges to do more to unite and make visible the global movement demanding investments in maternal and newborn health. Mothers Day Every Day advisors Christy Turlington Burns, Elsa Walsh, Geeta Rao Gupta, Tammy Haddad, Anita McBride and Liya Kebede were among those cheering when Sarah Brown said, "The health of girls and women, especially in pregnancy and childbirth, is essential to achieving all the other Millennium Development Goals. When a mother survives a lot survives with her and when women come together they are an unstoppable force for change." Click here to read Sarah's speech; and here to enjoy the evening as experienced by Mom 101.

Important Dinner for Women (l to r): Wendi Murdoch, Sarah Brown, Queen Rania, Al Abdullah, Nicole Kidman, Liya Kebede and Indra Nooyi.

No sooner did Helene Gayle leave New York that she was off to Kenya for a CARE Learning Tour with a U.S. delegation of policy makers, corporate leaders, academics and advocates, including Admiral Willion J. Fallon (ret.) U.S. Navy and Co-Chair of the CSIS Smart Global Health Initiative; Representative Keith Ellison (MN-05); Kevin Brennan and Shana Chandler, Chiefs of Staff for Representatives Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) and Adam Smith (WA-9) respectively; Joe Rospars, Founding Partner of Blue State Digital; Jan Goodwin, More Magazine; Dr. Steven C. Phillips, Medical Director, Global Issues and Projects, Exxon Mobil Corporation; Michael H. Merson, Professor and Director of the Duke Global Health Institute at Duke University; Karen Remley, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Health; Peter Lamptey, President of Health Programs, Family Health International and Rick Copeland, CARE Action Network Volunteer. The three day tour started in and around Nairobi with a look at urban poverty in Kibera and U.S. investments in healthcare. Highlights included briefings with the Kenyan Minister of Medical Services and the U.S. Ambassador as well as site visits focused on rural health programs to promote maternal, newborn, and child health. If you want to become involved in this effort, please encourage your Member of Congress to travel with CARE. For more information, please contact Nicole deBrabander at ndebrabander@care.org.

Last but certainly not least, Mothers Day Every Day is proud to announce three new champions have joined our Advisory Committee. Please welcome two former White House Press Secretaries – Dana Perino, Chief Issues Counselor, Burson-Marsteller and Mike McCurry, Partner, Public Strategies Washington, Inc. – and Dina Powell, Managing Director and Global Head of Corporate Engagement, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Stay tuned for upcoming alerts about motion in Congress to provide assistance to improve the health of mothers and newborns in developing countries. To find out more and get involved, please go to www.mothersdayeveryday.org

Thank you.

© 2009 White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood and CARE. All rights reserved.