mHealth Alliance and CARE Partner to Improve the Lives of Women and Children

Today, the mHealth Alliance and CARE announced a new partnership to find ways to integrate mobile health technologies to empower women and improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in developing countries.

“This is a great opportunity for CARE to strengthen our work with people in need throughout the world while harnessing the power of mobile technology – both at the program and policy levels,” said Helene D. Gayle, President and CEO of CARE.

Madhu Deshmukh, director of special initiatives for MNCH, mHealth and Gender at CARE, will work with the mHealth Alliance, hosted by the United Nations Foundation, to develop a framework to support the Alliance’s efforts to ensure mobile health technologies are empowering women and improving the health of children.  Deshmukh will provide overall technical leadership in mHealth for MNCH and participate in the Every Women Every Child Innovation Working Group’s Catalytic mHealth Grants Program to identify specific areas for collaboration.

“The mHealth Alliance partnership with CARE will bring together two organizations with complimentary missions to ensure mHealth technologies are used effectively to fight poverty, improve health, and empower women and girls,” said Executive Director of the mHealth Alliance, Patricia Mechael.

“Through this partnership we will further scale up and advance mHealth innovations to positively impact women and children’s health around the world,” said Deshmukh.

CARE will provide technical input and support to further the Alliance’s work on mHealth for MNCH, as well as lead the development of capacity building tools and measurement methods. In exchange, the mHealth Alliance will explore opportunities to strengthen CARE’s strategic approach to and operational strategies for mHealth with a focus on the intersection with other sectors such as health, water, livelihoods, access to financial resources, agriculture, emergencies and humanitarian assistance

To learn more about how the mHealth Alliance is continually advancing its work around maternal, newborn, and child health visit http://www.mhealthalliance.org/our-work/health-focus-areas.

###About the mHealth Alliance
The mHealth Alliance champions the use of mobile technologies to improve health throughout the world. Working with diverse partners to integrate mHealth into multiple sectors, the Alliance serves as a convener for the mHealth community to overcome common challenges by sharing tools, knowledge, experience, and lessons learned. The mHealth Alliance also hosts Health Unbound (HUB), a global online community for resource sharing and collaborative solution generation. Hosted by the United Nations Foundation, and founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, Vodafone Foundation, and UN Foundation, the Alliance now also includes HP, the GSM Association, and Norad among its founding partners. For more information, visit http://www.mHealthAlliance.org.

About CARE
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. We place special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty. Women are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of disease, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. For more information visit http://www.care.org/index.asp.