Blog: Global Health

Every Earth Day, I’m reminded of the proverb, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

My unforgettable visit today to Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda with the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign reinforced two things. One: Our collective work to fight malaria is paying off. Two: We still have a lot of work to do to end malaria deaths for good.
More than 14,000 people live in Gihembe in northern Rwanda, although it’s difficult to call these mud houses perched on terraced hillsides home.

Yesterday I did what I almost always do on Sundays–play with my two young sons, go for a long run, and generally just enjoy being at home with my family. I also spent a considerable amount of time packing for my first trip to Rwanda. I’m headed there today with the Nothing But Nets campaign and our friends at WWE to visit refugee camps with our partners at the UN Refugee Agency.

What’s Your Method? is a blog series that offers a window into many of the contraceptive options for women and girls around the world.

I’m writing as a part of Shot@Life’s ’28 Days of Impact’ Campaign. A follow up to Blogust to raise awareness for global vaccines and the work being done by Shot@Life and their partners to help give children around the world a shot at a healthy life.

This year at the United Nations Foundation we have been focusing on the idea of “Going Bold”, inspired largely by our founder and chairman Ted Turner’s $1 billion gift to work toward the goals of the UN. We cannot have this conversation without including the work and impact that Bill Gates has made through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Every year from about 2006 to 2009 India was faced with over 500 polio cases. But, in 2009, some new initiatives were introduced that looked at narrowing in on population segments that were being missed.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies recently created a video featuring Malawi’s first female president, Joyce Banda, talking about the importance of women’s health and empowerment.

Today the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is excited to announce the national launch of “Aponjon”, a mobile health service that delivers stage-based, vital health information to new and expectant mothers via their mobile phones in Bangladesh.

When you picture a United Nations conference, you probably don’t imagine 600 young people dancing in the aisles. But from the beginning, it was clear that the ICPD Global Youth Forum was not your typical conference. The forum – led by young people, for young people – brought together youth leaders, and representatives from civil society, the private-sector and government, from around the world to learn, deliberate, and make recommendations around five key issue areas: staying healthy, comprehensive education, employment, family and youth rights (including sexuality) and leadership.