After Teresa's first son almost died of diarrhea, she was determined to do things differently with her second son, Vusi. She learned about vaccines and water, sanitation, and hygiene from the health clinic.

According to the World Bank, encourage girls to earn a living and they’ll invest 90% of their income back into their families, more than twice as much as men.

A child born to a literate mother is 50% less likely to die before the age of 5.

The effects of human-caused climate change - water and sanitation disruptions, increased waterborne diseases, crowding, urbanization, and displacement - will disproportionately affect women and girls. Women’s leadership will be key to mitigating its effects. Meet some climate leaders, featured by UN Women, doing just that.

The What Women Want campaign asked 1.2 million women and girls from 114 countries what they want most in healthcare. The second-most popular demand? Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities.

The demands of women and girls are basic. But in many of the remote communities in Nigeria, availability of water is a luxury. Advocate Tariah Adams discusses the What Women Want survey results from Nigeria.

​​​​​​Women represent an estimated 70% of the global healthcare workforce. A lack of WASH in healthcare facilities also impacts the health, safety, burden of work, and capacity of healthcare workers to provide adequate care.

No one should risk infection due to lack of toilets where they give birth and seek treatment. Because mothers giving birth and newborn babies are especially vulnerable to infection, the lack of WASH in healthcare facilities disproportionately affects women.

Breastfeeding is the best way to give babies a strong start in life, but disruptions in access to peer support and breastfeeding services have caused global breastfeeding rates to fall. Gender-equitable support for breastfeeding women is needed now more than ever.

Esther Alamia, midwife in Uganda, advocates for integration of prenatal services with immunization to reach more mothers as part of Uganda's Integrated Child Health Days. 

Formal and informal support networks for breastfeeding moms is essential. Human milk banking is an example of how moms and health systems can work together to support moms who are unable to breastfeed. 

Pakistan's success with vaccination, even admist the COVID-19 pandemic, can be traced to its Lady Health Workers (LHWs). These women help mobilize other women in their communities to become decision-makers in their own households, starting with choices about their children’s health and well-being. And their approach works. According to a Harvard analysis of Pakistan’s Demographic and Health Survey, regions served by LHWs have better health outcomes in areas such as family planning, neonatal care, and immunization than regions that are not.

Breastfeeding could save an estimated 800,000 infants each year by preventing death and stunting from malnutrition. Moms need support from other moms, families, and workplaces to succeed in their breastfeeding journey.

Fathers who engage in their children’s health can alleviate burdens on women and complete a support system that allows a child to grow up healthier – including fewer bouts of diarrhea and other childhood illnesses.

When four-month-old Immanuel fell ill with diarrhea, Catherine knew exactly what to do. People-centered primary healthcare made it possible.

Strong girls become strong women who raise strong children. Vaccines, nutrition, access to medicines, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene have impacts for generations to come.

One analysis concluded that eliminating maternal depression could reduce stunting globally by about 27 percent.

"Malnourished children often become malnourished parents and the vicious cycle is repeated. Now more than ever before, as the entire global community extends its survival focus to include to include thriving, we all need to work harder and closer together to ensure that every baby, every child, every woman and every man eats a well-balanced meal and is optimally nourished.” - Dr. Cyril Engmann, Director of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition, PATH

Malnourished girls who become malnourished mothers give birth to underweight boys and girls who are more vulnerable to infection. Instead, access to WASH and nutrition creates positive ripple effects. 

Yeksim Chea, vice-chief of Duan Tom village in Cambodia, was intimately familiar with the burden of childhood illnesses in her village. So she used her leadership to teach mothers and families about diarrhea and pneumonia prevention and treatment. Women like Yeksim know what other women and families need, and when they’re in charge, children’s health improves.

Meet Yeksim and two other women - Esther and Rashmi - who are helping elevate and improve women's and children's health.

“It’s been rewarding for me to see how child health can be improved after studying for several years the mechanisms of how the body responds to the infections and the difference in immune response between adults and children to defend against diarrheal disease and respiratory illnesses.”

Dr. Rubhana Raqib was selected as one of 35 new Fellows in the World Academy of Sciences, in recognition for her work in the category of ‘Medical and Health Sciences,’ in particular enteric and infectious diseases. 

At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Zaidi served as the director of the Vaccine Development and Surveillance program and the Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases program. Now she is first president of the newly created Gender Equality Division. 

"Gender inequality holds back women and girls—that’s half the world’s population, and it’s indisputably unjust. It’s also the biggest barrier to progress in global health and development. I’ve seen this throughout my career, as a physician, as a researcher, and here at the foundation. The root cause of a lot of disease is poverty-related, and poverty is sexist. Without addressing gender inequality, progress on both health and development will be stunted."

On her heroes: “The real heroes are the mothers of the world who nurture and care for their children sometimes in the face of amazing adversity.”

On when she realized she wanted to work on rotavirus: “Backpacking through Africa and Asia, seeing first hand how hard life can be and seeing so many children suffer from preventable and treatable conditions.”  

The role of female researchers in vaccine-preventable diseases, like diarrhea, is growing each year. Dr. Schael is an expert on rotavirus vaccines.

“The history of rotavirus vaccine is a tribute to scientific creation, risk-taking, and the disciplined work of many actors pursuing wellbeing and social justice for children.”

Dr. Iturriza-Gomara  is a virologist, with expertise in enteric virus infections, virus evolution, and molecular tools for diagnosing, monitoring, and tracking infections

“I am full of admiration for the many health workers who work tirelessly to bring relief to millions of disadvantaged people living the poorest and most challenging regions of the world, and without whom interventions such as vaccination campaigns would just not be possible.”

Dr. Groome is an epidemiologist and clinical researcher on vaccine-preventable infectious diseases, including rotavirus. 

“South Africa is privileged to have several strong women in vaccine research, for example, Professor Helen Rees and Professor Glenda Gray. Both of them have made a significant contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa and are internationally known for their research.

I have ended up with three daughters – my eldest is now in second year studying medicine, second one in Grade 11 and thinking about software engineering, and then the little one. Grateful to have raised daughters who believe that they can be and do anything.”

The role of female researchers in vaccine-preventable diseases, like diarrhea, is growing each year. Dr. Kang’s expertise is on on enteric infections in children, surveillance, and modes of transmission.

Dr. Neuzil is an epidemiologist, vaccine researcher, and health policy expert.

On her favorite memory in her fight against rotavirus: “I attended the rotavirus vaccine launch in Mali in 2014.  I celebrated with colleagues, mothers, and government officials as the first infants in one of the poorest countries in the world received this lifesaving vaccine.”

The Venice Forum is the starting point of an ambitious 2021-2022 roadmap to refocus national stimulus strategies on maternal, newborn, and child health, building on evidence that this pays dividends across all of society. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we need to better understand the lived realities of women and adolescents in order to inform policy and program responses. The Finding Hope report, from the WHO Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), documents these realities, solutions being implemented, and outlines specific policy asks.

The Generation Equality Forum is an opportunity for governments, philanthropists, and private sector leaders to deliver on their commitments to gender equality and fulfill the promises made in the Beijing Declaration for all women and girls by announcing bold new commitments for all girls’ and women’s rights, education, employment, and health.
 
Sign the Global Citizen petition to call on governments and stakeholders to make big, bold commitments at the Generation Equality Forum and beyond.