“We can’t afford to come to 2030 and tell the mothers, babies, children, and adolescents of this era that we have failed”– Mrs. Graça Machel
Congratulations to Mrs. Graça Machel on being awarded the World Health Organization’s highest honour, the WHO Gold Medal, for her enormous contributions to the health and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents. The award was presented to Mrs. Machel by WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a high-level reception which took place at the World Health Assembly on 20th May, 2018 in Geneva.
Mrs. Machel finished her tenure as The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (The Partnership, PMNCH) Board Chair, and she passed on the baton to Dr. Michelle Bachelet, who is former President of the Republic of Chile and former Executive Director of UN Women and a lifelong advocate of women and children.
“As I hand over my Board Chair responsibilities to the very accomplished President Michelle Bachelet, I know she will challenge PMNCH take on greater strides as an agent of change. President Bachelet is an inspirational leader whose contributions to the rights and aspirations of the people of Chile, Latin America and the world has been outstanding”– Mrs. Machel
Mrs. Machel has provided exceptional leadership at a critical stage both galvanizing political and financial commitment to the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.