During April 5-11, tell the world why we need more health workers who are well-prepared and equipped on the front lines. Join the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, the World Health Organization, and partners around the world to celebrate World Health Worker Week (WHWW) on social media under the theme, Leaders on the Line. This year’s theme highlights the importance of health worker leadership, the need to provide greater leadership opportunities for frontline health workers, and its impact on the front lines of care and the entire world. At the same time, this theme emphasizes how health workers often put themselves on the line, often at great personal risk to themselves and their families, to save and improve lives.

This is a time for advocates to point out the amazing work and potential of frontline health workers; highlight the challenges and risks they face; and mobilize countries, communities, donors, partners, and policymakers to make greater investments in frontline health workers worldwide.

Join the conversation

The world is coming together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic bringing governments, organizations from across industries and sectors and individuals together to help respond to this global outbreak. The outpouring of global solidarity and support sparked by this shared challenge has been phenomenal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is leading and coordinating the global effort, supporting countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic.

Everyone can now support directly the response coordinated by WHO. People and organizations who want to help fight the pandemic and support WHO and partners can now donate through the COVID-Solidarity Response Fund for WHO at www.COVID19ResponseFund.org.

Donate 

Please note that we have had to postpone this webinar. We will share the new date and log in details on this website as soon as possible.

Photo: Kindehafti Alayu  with her twenty-five days Selamawit Hayleye Debri health center, in the Tigray region, Ethiopia, in August 1, 2017. ©UNICEF/UN0140363/Mulugeta Ayene 

Have you seen or been part of an inspiring quality improvement initiative, tested an innovative approach, or do you know a quality of care champion? This is your chance to share your experience with a broad audience of health workers, managers and decision-makers. Give us a tip and we will turn it into a story and share it with the broader global health community.

The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health is calling for proposals for stories on quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health. Simply answer the three questions in this questionnaire and we will write a web story, record a podcast episode or plan a webinar around the expertise and know-how that you are sharing.

These stories will be shared on the Quality of Care Network's website and within its Learning Network.   

Photo: Maimana Baldo with her baby girl that was born the previous day at the paediatric ward in the Bafata hospital, Guinea Bissau,  January 2020. Copyrigt: UNICEF/UNI285006/Karel Prinsloo

The Massive Open Online Course on Improving the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents put together by the Maternal, Adolescent, Reproductive, and Child Health (MARCH) Centre at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is now open for the second round of participants and can be accessed free of charge here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/women-children-health

The content is designed for mobile phone platforms and the second round is open now, starting 9th March 2019 for 6 weeks. Participants can join at any time in the 6 weeks, but you will gain most if you participate throughout by joining 1000s of other learners from all over the world posting comments to each other on the topics each week. For each week's topic there are expert mentors. We know that some groups or team choose do the course together and also meet face-to-face to discuss.

Six flexible modules cover health throughout the lifecycle including:

1. adolescence
2. reproductive (starting 11th Nov timed to coincide with ICPD25 in Nairobi)
3. maternal,
4. newborns and stillbirths,
5. children, and
6. putting it all together, including cross cutting issues such as climate change and humanitarian crisis.

The course has previously had >26,000 participants from >130 countries. The focus is how to accelerate progress towards the relevant SDGs to address the ongoing annual toll of around 10 million stillbirths, and newborn, child, adolescent, maternal deaths. Leading experts from all over the world use multi-media approaches to share the latest data, progress to SDGs, evidence, debates and research gaps. Each week also has more detailed references so is suitable for a range of learners, whether the topic is new to you or you are already deeply engaged.

Photo: Animata Diallo is cuddling her newborn baby in the PMI health center of Odienné, in the Northeast of Côte d'Ivoire, in February 2020. © UNICEF/UNI288582/Frank Dejongh

On March 9-13, make you own #MyEqualityDeclaration sign and share a photo on social media.

The White Ribbon Alliance is running this online, public engagement campaign to mobilize women and young girls around the world to write in one sentence their own personal political declaration for gender equality.

The cancellation of this year’s United Nations Commission on the Status of Women due to concerns around COVID-19 means that women’s organizations will not have the opportunity to come together and mobilize in person for gender equality.  Let your voice be heard online and share your demand for gender equality.

Read more: https://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/myequalitydeclaration/

Photo: Adolescent girls smile at an event in the Union Development & Culture Community Centre in Djibouti in April 2018.© UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani

The Global Respectful Maternal Care Council, convened by the White Ribbon Alliance, launched the Respectful Maternal Care Charter: the universal rights of women and newborns in October 2019. The charter is  designed to help educate, inform and advocate for all women to receive respectful care during pregnancy and childbirth. You can now take action to  show your support for the universal rights of women and newborns: endorse the Respectful Maternity Care Charter on behalf of your organization or as an individual. Click HERE

Download the Respectful Maternal Care Charter