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Home > GWANC 2006 Conference > Agenda and Key Presentations
The Global Women's Action Network for Children 2006 Conference
Agenda and Key Presentations
June 11-13, 2006
King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center
Dead Sea, Jordan
Opening Ceremony
Opening Address
Her Majesty, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah
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Welcome and Introduction to the Conference: The Challenge and Opportunity
Marian Wright Edelman
Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund and Conference Co-Convener, United States
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Conference Address
Honorable Madeleine Albright
Founding Chair, International Assembly of Women Ministers
Conference Co-Convener and former Secretary of State, United States
With introduction by Melanne Verveer, Co-founder and Chair of Vital Voices Global Partnership, US and Conference Co-Convener
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A Special Address by the President of Liberia
Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
With introduction by Pat Mitchell, President and CEO, Museum of Television and Radio, United States
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Daily Inspiration:
Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Laureate for Peace, United States
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Saving the Lives of Mothers and Newborns and Promoting Girls’ Education:
What Will It Take to Ensure These Millennium Development Goals are Met?
Introduction: Honorable Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, United Kingdom
Presentations:
Joy Phumaphi, Assistant Director-General, Family and Community Health, World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland
Presentation
Torild Skard, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and former Director-General of Norwegian Ministry for Development Cooperation, former Parliamentarian, Norway
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This session presents a broad overview of the current global situation regarding maternal and newborn health and girls’ education. It will reveal major causes of continuing wide disparities in access to essential maternal and child health services and girls’ education both between countries and by selected population subgroups within many countries. It will focus in particular on the key challenges and priority actions required to meet the national and international commitments to women and children embodied in the core Millennium Development Goals of reducing maternal and newborn mortality and attaining gender equity of educational opportunities.
Young Women’s Voices: Perspectives on Health, Education and Leadership
Opening Remarks by Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Chief Correspondent for Africa, National Public Radio, United States
Panelists:
Neema Mgana, Founder and Director, The African Regional Youth Initiative
Varsha Ayyar, Labour, Education & Research Network (LEARN), India
Olena Prykhodko, International Young Women Leaders Group, Ukraine
Xoliswa Sithole, Independent documentary produce r, South Africa
Dr. Rhondee Johnson, Resident physician and recipient of Beat the Odds award, Childrens’ Defense Fund, United States
Via this interactive dialogue, these young women provided powerful insights to the myriad issues faced by their generation of young women throughout the developing world in meeting even basic health and education needs and rights. And, as they dramatically revealed, young women leaders are rising to the challenge and gaining strong, effective voice for change in their own countries and globally. This panel thus signaled the amazing strength that lies within an inter-generational bridge of women, across continents, united in a common goal — to enhance the well-being of all women and girls — as the Global Women’s Action Network for Children seeks to create and nurture.
Making a Difference: Lessons Learned from Major Initiatives To Date
Opening Remarks: Honorable Mary Robinson
Executive Director, Ethical Globalization Initiative, Conference Co-convener and Former President of Ireland
Panel:
Dr. Eddah Gachukia, Director, Riara Group of Schools, Kenya, former Executive Director of FAWE, Kenya
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Ann Pettifor, Executive Director, Advocacy International, co-founder of Jubilee 2000, United Kingdom
Presentation
Suhair Al-Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Jordan
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This session provided an overview of the design, implementation and outcomes of selected initiatives that are widely recognized as having contributed significantly to the goals of reducing poverty and/or enhancing the well-being of families, especially women and girls, in the developing world. It included experiences at the global, regional and national levels, i.e. Jubilee 2000, an international coalition movement in over 40 countries which played a catalytic role in securing debt relief for developing countries; FAWE, an initiative sparked by the desire of women ministers of education in Africa to rapidly expand girls' access to education; and Jordan's program to close the gender gap in education. Despite the diversity of the themes, several common characteristics of successful initiatives were discernible which provided valuable insights for defining the agenda for action for the Global Women's Action Network for Children.
Daily Inspiration
Dr. Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Laureate for Peace, Iran
With introduction by Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Laureate for Peace, United States
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Promoting Girls’ Education An Interactive Dialogue on Promising Approaches
Chair: Carol Bellamy, President and Chief Executive Officer, World Learning, United States, and former Executive Director, UNICEF
Panel:
The Gambia: Ann-Therese N’dong-Jatta, Director of Basic Education, UNESCO, and former Gambian Secretary of State for Education
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Mauritania: Nebghouha Mint Mohamed Vall, Associate Director, HKA Consult, and former Director of Planning, Ministry of Education, Mauritania
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Malawi: Dr. Esme Chipo Kadzamira, Research Fellow, Center for Educational Research and Training, University of Malawi
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Bangladesh: Dr. Naomi Hossain, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)
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Yemen: Jalilah Shoja Aldeen, Head of Education Unit, Yemen Social Fund for Development
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This session brought together education leaders from five countries that made significant progress over the past decade in closing the gender gap in education. They shared alternative approaches that hold high potential to help other countries to address common constraints to attaining gender equity of educational opportunities. Among the challenges which these countries successfully tackled were lack of schools in close proximity to family homes, unsafe and/or inappropriate school environments for girls, and high direct and indirect costs families incurred in educating their children, all of which continue to significantly hamper girls’ enrollment and retention in school in many countries. These five country experiences underscored the importance of developing local strategies and of forging close partnerships with communities and nongovernmental organizations as well as ensuring sustained political commitment and advocacy for the rights of girls and women.
Saving Mothers’ and Newborns’ Lives: An Interactive Dialogue on Promising Approaches
Chair: Dr. Donna Shalala, President, Miami University and former Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services
Panel:
Bertha Pooley, Save the Children Bolivia
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Elizabeth Lule, Manager, AIDS Campaign Team (ACT) for Africa and
former Advisor for Population and Reproductive Health, The World Bank
Jill Sheffield, President, Family Care International, United States
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Dr. Lynn Freedman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Columbia University, United States
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Anne Tinker, Director, Saving Newborn Lives Initiative, Save the Children, United States
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(NOTE: Dr. Anoma Jayathilaka, Maternal & Newborn Care, Family Health Bureau, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka, unexpectedly could not join the panel, as had been planned, but shared an overview of her country’s program to enhance maternal and infant health status; to be added)
This session uncovered the complex and interrelated socio-cultural, economic and political factors underlying continuing, excessively high levels of maternal and newborn illness and deaths in the lowest income countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explored why already existing cost-effective technologies and well-known alternative strategies to rapidly expand access to and utilization of priority services are not reaching the most vulnerable population groups. And from the lens of Bolivia and selected international programs that have made significant progress in reducing maternal and newborn mortality, it provided rich insights on what it will take to provide the requisite continuum of prenatal, obstetric and post-partum and newborn care, and to empower women, all of which are essential to save the lives of millions of women and infants each year.
Participatory, Breakout Sessions
Groups convened in parallel sessions focused on five discrete, strategic areas:
o Building Political Will and Leadership Capacity for Maternal and Newborn Health Care
o Building Political Will and Leadership Capacity for Girls’ Education
o Designing and Sustaining Communications and Advocacy Campaigns for Maternal and Newborn Health Care
o Designing and Sustaining Communications and Advocacy Campaigns for Girls’ Education
o Mobilizing Financial Resources for and Managing The Innovation Fund
First Ladies Round Table
Chair: Melanne Verveer, Co-founder and Chair of Vital Voices Global Partnership, US and Conference Co-Convener (NOTE: asking Melanne to provide summary, if readily available; to be added)
Panel:
Mrs. Hirwa Talibani, Iraq
Mrs. Um Kulthom Bint Mohamma Weld Al Nah, Mauritania
Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, Rwanda
Mrs. Kateryna Yushchenko, Ukraine
Mrs. Widad Babkir, Sudan
Closing Ceremony
The Road Forward: Action Steps for the Global Women’s Action Network for Children
Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President, Children’s Defense Fund, United States
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Closing Remarks
Her Majesty, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah
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