Our blog series “5 Days, 5 Facts, 5 Reasons to Act” today highlights improvements in maternal health, an important aim of the Millennium Development Goals. FEATURED FACT: Healthy mothers mean healthy families. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), “When mothers die, their families are much more vulnerable, and their infants are more likely to die before reaching their second birthday.” Most maternal deaths are preventable, and the UN and partners have mobilized to expand access to […]

Our blog series “5 Days, 5 Facts, 5 Reasons to Act” concludes today with a focus on global progress in reducing extreme poverty. FEATURED FACT: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called the Millennium Development Goals “the most successful global anti-poverty push in history.” According to the UN, in 1990, close to half of the people in developing regions lived on less than $1.25 a day, and by 2010, only 22% of the developing world was

We are just months away from the United Nations Post-2015 Summit in September, when world leaders will come together to adopt a new set of global goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). There is clear consensus that successful implementation of the new global goals in 2016 will be rooted in reliable, accurate, and timely data. Strong data will help to show us where we need to focus our interventions – such as ensuring

“Why didn’t you tell us about all of these things?” my 9-year-old daughter recently asked me as she feverishly jotted down notes about poverty, gender inequality, climate change, and other global challenges. We were on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for the Global Citizen Earth Day festival, hearing from speakers and performers about the injustices facing billions of people around the world, and my daughter wanted to know why my generation hasn’t been moving

Photo: Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images Reportage Last week, we attended the Cartagena Data Festival in Colombia, where more than 450 participants from many disciplines joined forces in a three-day event focused on solving critical gaps in global development data and creating opportunities for improved data collection for the post-2015 development agenda. The proposed Sustainable Development Goals include a commitment to “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.” To monitor progress toward this goal and

Photo: Stuart Ramson for UN Foundation Good news: Rubella has been eliminated from the Americas! Last week the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) announced that an independent expert committee had declared the Americas region free of the endemic transmission of rubella. Rubella is a contagious disease that can cause severe birth defects and fetal death when contracted by pregnant women. Worldwide, more than 100,000 babies are born each year with congenital rubella syndrome.

Our “Supporter Spotlight” series continues with a discussion with Sarah Mayer, a student at the University of Iowa who works closely with the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign. Sarah, who will graduate this month, has worked closely with Shot@Life since the fall of 2014 to help protect children from preventable diseases by expanding access to life-saving vaccines. Question: What motivates you to work with Shot@Life? Sarah Mayer: I’ve always wanted to make an impact in the

By Jordie Hannum, Executive Director of the Better World Campaign  Yesterday, United Nations Foundation Vice President for Energy and Climate Strategy Reid Detchon testified before a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about the importance of the United Nations in advancing progress on global challenges, especially the threat of climate change. Here are key quotes from his testimony: On the Value of the UN: “The U.S. has played a central role in

This Mother’s Day, the United Nations Foundation is celebrating the power of moms to create positive change in their families and in their communities. We are fortunate to work with amazing mothers who are helping the United Nations expand access to vaccines and family planning, promote sustainable energy, protect refugee families from malaria, empower adolescent girls, use mobile technology to improve maternal health, create a thriving market for clean cookstoves, and much more. While our