Momentum Builds for Acccelerated Action to Improve Maternal and Newborn Health

UNITED NATIONS — Seeking to galvanize commitment and action, drive effective implementation, and ensure accountability for results, the UN Secretary-General, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the governments of Tanzania, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, together with the WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank (the“H4”) and the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, have initiated a joint effort to reach MDGs 4 and 5. Partners in this joint effort will develop a Global Action Plan, including a framework for accountability, which will address critical gaps and accelerate progress on reducing maternal and newborn child health through increased attention, coordination and resources, and through better leverage of ongoing national efforts as well as existing human, financial and political capital.