Global leaders to call for action on maternal & reproductive health at Women Deliver 2013 conference
High-level participants join program for advocacy organization’s landmark meeting in Kuala Lumpur
New York, NY, February 21, 2013— A number of influential leaders are confirmed to participate in the Women Deliver’s third global conference, Women Deliver 2013, which will take place on May 28-30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Speakers at the conference will include:
· Melinda Gates, Co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
· Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General & Executive Director of United Nations Women
· Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
· Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
· Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
· HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway
· Dr. Hans Rosling, Professor of International Health, Karolinska Institute; Co-founder & Chairman, Gapminder Foundation
Women Deliver 2013 is expected to convene more than 5,000 experts and advocates from more than 160 countries. The conference aims to ensure that investments in girls and women remain a global priority in the lead-up to the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline and beyond.
Notably, the second day of the conference will focus on the unmet need for family planning. The morning plenary will focus on the landmark July 2012 London Summit on Family Planning, where global leaders committed to provide contraceptive access to 120 million women in the world’s poorest countries by the year 2020. The plenary and other sessions during the day will highlight progress since the Summit.
“Women Deliver 2013 offers an unprecedented opportunity to build on the tremendous momentum generated last year around reproductive health, especially during the London Summit on Family Planning,” said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director. “Access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, age appropriate sexuality education, information and services and skilled and motivated care givers help ensure that all women and girls have the power to shape their futures.”
Women Deliver 2013 will focus on range of other critical issues related to women’s health and empowerment. The first day of the conference will focus largely on Women Deliver’s keynote theme, investing in women, and the third will focus on the post-2015 development framework.
“With the MDG target date just around the corner, the time is now for us to ensure that girls and women are central pillars in the new development agenda,” said Jill Sheffield, Women Deliver Founder and President. “We have made incredible strides toward improving women’s health and rights in recent years, and we cannot stop now. Women Deliver 2013 will offer a powerful forum for ensuring that we continue to deliver for girls and women for years to come.”
Media registration for Women Deliver 2013 is open, and all accredited journalists from print, broadcast and online news outlets are eligible for complimentary registration. More than 70 journalists from around the world have already registered to attend the meeting, and dozens more are expected.
Media attendees will have access to all conference sessions, and benefit from a variety of on-site media amenities, including a press workroom and daily press conferences. A select group of high-level editors and senior reporters will also be invited to attend a half-day Media Forum on Monday, May 27. They will discuss the challenges of covering women’s health and empowerment issues and ways to incorporate these topics into broader sustainable development coverage.
A ‘virtual’ media room will be available to those who are unable to attend the conference in person. Virtual registrants will have access to all conference materials, as well as webcasts of high-level sessions and press conferences at Women Deliver 2013.
Women Deliver 2013 hopes to build on past Women Deliver conferences and generate new political, financial and grassroots support for girls’ and women’s health and empowerment.
WHAT: Women Deliver 2013
WHEN: Tuesday, May 28 – Thursday, May 30, 2013
WHERE: Kuala Lumpur Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To register for the Women Deliver conference as media, please click here.
For more information on Women Deliver, please visit: www.womendeliver.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.