From the Special Envoy:
How Many Lives Can We Save In 500 Days?

The clock is ticking loudly for all of us focused on achieving the MDGs. As the 500 day mark fast approaches on August 18th, followed quickly by the UN General Assembly in September, I find myself thinking about what can still be done to improve the chances of reaching our goals. Three things rise to the top of my list: (1) a financing boost that takes us to the MDG deadline and also lays the foundation for more sustainable funding approaches going forward, (2) securing of commitments by all partners to a targeted number of lives saved and following-through with counting those lives saved, and (3) identifying ways to maximize existing service delivery platforms to do as much as possible to not “miss opportunities”.

› Continue reading...

› USAID Unveils Plan to Save 500,000 lives by MDG Deadline, Realign $2.9 Billion

Committed to greater efficiency and effectiveness, USAID announces reprogramming of $2.9 billion in 24 countries. Special Envoy Ray Chambers and other eminent leaders helped identify high-impact change opportunities.

› Canada Commits $3.5 Billion to Improve the Health of Mothers and Children

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announces Canada’s continued commitment to saving the lives of millions. Focus of funds will be health systems, nutrition and life-threatening diseases.

› MDG Acceleration Roadmap Launched for Maternal and Newborn Survival

Following the launch of the Every Newborn Action Plan, and with just six quarters remaining to achieve MDGs 4 and 5, UNFPA and other partners launched an integrated roadmap to save an additional 140,000 women’s and 250,000 newborn lives.

› Five Roadmaps to Leverage Existing Health Delivery Systems to Save More Lives

Integrated community-based delivery, child health weeks, Measles-Rubella and Polio vaccination and Seasonal Malaria Chemo prevention campaigns should serve as foundations for proposed child survival interventions.

› 500 Days To MDG Achievement: Social Media Campaign Launched

August 18, 2014 marks the 500 day milestone until the target date to achieve the MDGs. The UN has launched a social media program to highlight successes and inspire more great work, using the hashtag #MDG500.

› Malaria Elimination Scorecard Launched for Southern Africa

Building on the scorecard developed by the Africa Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) scorecard for malaria control in Africa, a new tool focuses on indicators tracking progress towards malaria elimination in southern Africa.

› Malaria Prevention During Pregnancy Improves Health of Mothers and Babies

In the race to meet health MDGs, Roll Back Malaria (RBM) launches a new report highlighting the impact of malaria interventions on maternal, newborn and child survival.

› The State of Community Health Workers, Country by Country

CHW profiles have been published for 17 African countries, providing an invaluable comparison of program assets, attributes and bottlenecks.

› MDG Health Alliance’s Charles MacCormack on Achieving Greater Donor Impact

A visionary article advocates for aggregating disparate donor strategies and expectations into coherent, larger-scale efforts that can drive greater impact.

› Johnson & Johnson Joins MDG Health Alliance

Special Envoy Ray Chambers welcomes consumer products giant; CEO Alex Gorsky commits company’s leadership to accelerating progress in the remaining six quarters to reach the MDGs.

› Thriving, Not Just Surviving

Poor nutrition remains a leading cause not only of child deaths but a contributing factor to weakened immune systems and healthy mental development.