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Mother's Day Every Day Advisors send bi-partisan message of support for robust funding of maternal and child health programs

Yesterday WRA-CARE's Mothers Day Every Day campaign submitted a letter to the House Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs requesting $1 billion for global maternal and child health programs in the upcoming appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2011.  Mothers Day Every Day Co-Founders Helene Gayle and Theresa Shaver, Co-Chairs Donna Shalala and Ann Veneman and Advisors Mark Dybul, Mark Green, Liya Kebede, Mike McCurry, Dana Perino and Elsa Walsh all signed on to urge Congress to expand their support for these cost-effective, life-saving programs.

Click here to download letter or read the full letter below.

 

April, 2010
The Honorable Nita Lowey Chairwoman Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs 1016 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515	The Honorable Kay Granger Ranking Member Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs HB-26, The Capitol Washington, DC 20515

 

Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger:

On behalf of the Mothers Day Every Day advisory committee, an initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE representing a bipartisan group of former Administration officials, Members of Congress and activists committed to improving the survival and health of mothers and newborns, we want to thank you for your leadership, which is saving lives and improving health for everyone.

This is an exciting time to be inspired by the progress many countries are making and explore areas where continued progress is needed. We applaud President Obama's commitment to increase U.S. assistance for maternal and child health programs through the Global Health Initiative and his commitment of $700 million for maternal and child health and $200 million for nutrition in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 budget. While these investments are significant, at least $1 billion for maternal and child health would facilitate more meaningful scale-up of life-saving interventions to accelerate progress in saving the lives of millions of women and children each year. We urge you to support this effort by including $1 billion for child and maternal health programs within the Global Health and Child Survival Account in your FY 2011 appropriations bill.

As many of us have seen firsthand, substantial progress in maternal health has been made in many countries including Egypt, Honduras, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Peru and parts of Bangladesh. The U.S. government's commitment to maternal and newborn health programs has made an enormous impact over the past two decades and helped to save millions of lives from preventable causes.

We understand that these are challenging economic times, both in the U.S. and around the world. Funding for maternal and child health is among the most cost-effective, life-saving investments the U.S. can make. Investments in global health, especially in women and children, have been shown to create more stable families, communities and nations. Again, we applaud the leadership you have demonstrated to improve child and maternal health globally and urge you to continue to make it a priority by committing $1 billion for child and maternal health programs in your FY 2011 appropriations bill, without reducing other humanitarian and development programs that support the well-being of mothers and children.

We look forward to working with you to ensure the United States maintains its strong leadership in this global effort.

Sincerely,

Theresa Shaver Co-Founder, Mothers Day Every Day President & Executive Director, White Ribbon Alliance	Helene Gayle, MD, MPH Co-Founder, Mothers Day Every Day President & CEO, CARE
Donna Shalala Co-Chair, Mothers Day Every Day President, University of Miami	Ann Veneman Co-Chair, Mothers Day Every Day Executive Director, UNICEF
Ambassador Mark Dybul Co-Director and Distinguished Scholar,     O'Neill Institute for National and Global     Health Law at Georgetown University & Senior Advisor to the President,     Georgetown University	Ambassador Mark Green (Ret.) Managing Director, Malaria No More Policy     Center; Former U.S. Ambassador, United Republic of     Tanzania; & Former U.S. Congressman, Wisconsin
Liya Kebede Founder & President, The Liya     Kebede Foundation WHO Goodwill Ambassador Supermodel	Mike McCurry Partner, Public Strategies     Washington, Inc. Former White House Press Secretary
Dana Perino Founder, Dana Perino & Co. Former White House Press Secretary	Elsa Walsh Author and Writer