The COVID-19 pandemic represents an unprecedented threat to the core focus of the Every Woman Every Child movement: the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents worldwide. Hard-earned progress in improving their ability to thrive and survive and in creating new opportunities for the world’s most vulnerable people is endangered on nearly all fronts. The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing vulnerabilities and failures in health, social, political and economic systems that ought to safeguard women, children and adolescents.

Following the World Health Assembly and the United Nations Women Rise for All Campaign, the Every Woman Every Child Secretariat, in partnership with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), and Women Deliver, organised a High-Level Roundtable on Women’s Leadership in the COVID-19 Response to Protect Every Woman and Every Child. This High-level Roundtable was co-convened by H.E. Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia, and Co-Chair of the Every Woman Every Child High-Level Steering Group (HLSG); and Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Chair of the PMNCH Board; and will include prominent speakers from the United Nations, Governments and Civil Society.

OUTCOME DOCUMENT

Immediate Steps to Safeguard Progress for Every Woman, Child and Adolescent

Following the High Level Roundtable on 28 May 2020, Every Woman Every Child has released an outcome document identifying 14 actions to respond to the acute challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, including concerns about severe and longstanding negative consequences in areas such as sexual and reproductive health (SRH), education and physical and emotional security. 

View document here. 

Resources

- Agenda

- Speaker bios 

- Social Media Challenge 

OP-ED

On 27th May 2020, ahead of the virtual high-level roundtable, Every Woman Every Child & Partners released an opinion piece, published by the Thomson Reuters Foundation titled: ‘Women and children will pay for this pandemic – unless we act’.

Signatories:

• H.E. Kersti Kaljulaid, President of Estonia
• Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister of New Zealand & PMNCH Board Chair
• Dr. Jorge Alcocer Varela, Secretary of Health, Mexico
• Graca Machel, Founder of the Graca Machel Trust & Former PMNCH Board Chair

 Read the opinion piece here.