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On the margins of the 75th World Health Assembly, PMNCH and the CORE Group hosted the 4th Lives in the Balance Summit on 19 May 2022.
The event, moderated by Mercy Juma of BBC News Africa, focused on mobilizing and delivering on commitments to address the health and wellbeing of women, children, and adolescents in humanitarian and fragile settings. Conflict, the climate crisis, and the economic impact of COVID-19 have created a toxic combination that threatens to undo decades of progress in health and social development for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable women, children, and adolescents.
The virtual event attracted registrants from 92 countries, with more than 70% of those based in low- and middle-income countries.
The event served as a platform to bring attention to the PMNCH Call to Action on COVID-19 campaign. To date, US$ 32.1 Billion in commitments from countries and donors have been announced to address the health losses for women, children and adolescents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Doumit, from the Order of Nurses of Lebanon, opened the event, sharing her insight following the devastating blast impacting Beirut.
Opening the Leadership dialogue, Rt Hon Helen Clark, PMNCH Board Chair and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, commented “The question we need to ask ourselves and our political leaders is ‘What kind of a world order are we building for our children?’ Our meeting today sends a powerful message: Lives are in the balance. We do not accept that women and children must bear the burden. We bear witness and we are resolved to resist – to speak out with one voice for a more equitable and peaceful world.”
In dialogue with Ms Clark, Dr Jean-Jacques Mbungani, Minister of Public Health, Hygiene and Prevention, Democratic Republic of Congo, joined a panel that also included Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, UNFPA. Ms Kanem noted that “sexual and reproductive health care and protection from sexual violence, is not just a luxury during peacetime. This is something essential, it is part of human dignity, and life-saving as well. SRHR of women and adolescents should be non-negotiable. There should not be a debate and it should be built into every crisis response”.
Aya Hrout, Program Director of the Jordan Youth Innovation Forum, shared her experience engaging youth and Wais Qarani President of the Afghanistan Nurses and Midwives Council emphasized: “Health and education must be kept away from politics.”
Shawn Baker, Chief Nutritionist, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), recalled a stark fact that 45% of child deaths under 5 years are afflicted by undernutrition. He warned that today, we are in a perfect storm of COVID, climate crisis and conflict that's devastating to the nutritional status of mothers and children.
Yana Panfilova, Founder and CEO of Teenergizer, a peer support group in Ukraine, joined the event as a refugee now based in Germany. "For adolescents and young people, mental health is essential, is like oxygen or water to survive,” she said.
During her keynote remark, H.E. Kersti Kaljulaid, former President of Estonia, and the UN Secretary General’s Global Advocate for Every Woman, Every Child, stressed the importance of joining forces in addressing the repercussions of the compounded effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts.
This call for partnership lead into the second part of the event focused on country commitments. A commitment follow-up video provided highlights from the implementation progress in Malawi and Nigeria.
Ted Chaiban, Global Lead Coordinator for the COVID Vaccine Country Readiness and Delivery Partnership, set the stage from the global perspective and Dr Margaret Agama-Anyete, Acting Director of Health, Humanitarian Affairs, and Social Development at the African Union outlined regional efforts and challenges.
Discussions continued with a deep-dive into the experiences of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh
Ms. Meerjady Sabrina Flora, Additional Director General, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of Bangladesh; Prof. Dr. Rowshan Ara Begum, Senior Gynaecology & Obstetrics specialist, former President, Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society and Dr. Ezatullah Majeed, Chief of Field office, UNICEF Cox’s Bazar
Zimbabwe
Ms. Chipo Chimamise, Deputy Director, Maternal and Reproductive Health, Ministry of Health and Child Care; Mr. Itai Rusike, Executive Director, Community Working Group on Health, and Ms. Clarissa Regede, Youth Engage
These commitments were followed by a closing intervention by Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health Nutrition and Population at the World Bank and Director of the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents. Dr Uribe reiterated the need to focus on essential health services for women, children and adolescents; ensure financing for the frontline health workers; support the strengthening of local institutions and communities. “Only with trust we can really make a difference in fragile and conflict settings,” he concluded.
Helga Fogstad, Executive Director of PMNCH and Lisa Hilmi, Executive Director of CORE Group, closed the meeting: “Our aim and effort with each of these Lives in the Balance summits have been to listen to what others in the community have to say, so that our collective response is targeted and fit for purpose, especially in crisis situations where the stakes are so high.”
In conclusion, Ms. Asmahan Ahmed, Somali-Canadian writer, poet, and spoken-word artist delivered her powerful poem "Daughter".
For the full list of speakers, resources and recording of the event, please consult the event page.
Watch the event