On September 12, 2005, a new global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health was launched, uniting HNP with the Child Surivival Partnership and the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health to form a global collaborative effort to improve the health and survival for mothers and their newborns and children. To learn more about the Partnership and the launch, please visit the website at www.pmnch.org.
The MDGs Call for Solidarity
Since the United Nations Millennium Development Goals were endorsed in 2000, agencies and governments committed to health and development have realized that cooperation, coordination, and partnership are absolutely essential for their success. The push for “broad and sustained” efforts has had a significant impact on the groups engaged in two vital goals which aim to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality—MDG-4 and MDG-5. Recognizing that these particular goals are not only critical but also achievable, the Healthy Newborn Partnership (HNP), is participating in a new collaborative effort with the Child Survival Partnership (CSP) and the Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health (PSMNH).
Integrating the 'N' into MCH
Since the need for large-scale action in maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is evident and the causes of mortality and morbidity between the three groups are related, a strong case for program collaboration has surfaced. The HNP, CSP and PSMNH aim to develop a coordinated approach that addresses crucial health needs in the context of a continuum of care—from pregnancy through childhood and from household to hospital—while maintaining each group's technical issues.
By developing and promoting a clear vision around maternal, newborn and child health, the new Partnership, established in earlier this year and to be launched in September, will aim to gain visibility, build coherence, and increase funding. It can and will:
- Coordinate, harmonise and align the activities of individual partners, and avoid or minimise duplication of effort;
- Integrate efforts and develop solutions, recognising that each of the individual partners has different strengths, scopes and agendas;
- Enhance advocacy by forging a clear, unified message that can represent all parties;
- Help fill gaps in the total solution by coordinating the contributions of partners.
The added value of the combined Partnership for the achievement of MDGs 4 and 5 will emerge through the following benefits:
Ø Bringing maternal, newborn and child health together
A single partnership will ensure that these three issues are effectively inter-linked by:
- Developing effective global leadership, with a united and powerful voice at the international level
- Maximising the linkages between maternal, newborn and child health using the continuum of care as a framework and ensuring that no priority issue is forgotten
- Developing a single set of consistent messages that will be accessible to a wide and diverse audience
- Providing a consistent and sustained approach to the mobilisation of both financial and technical resources as well as political will and commitment
- Building effective linkages with other initiatives, including other GHPs
- Avoiding duplication of investments and actions through coordination of effort and direction
