Guttmacher at the Women Deliver Conference

Reproductive rights are under attack. Will you help us fight back with facts?

First published online:

Women Deliver 2013, a global conference focused on maternal and reproductive health, will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from May 28 to May 30. The conference brings together policymakers, advocates and researchers from around the world with the goal of generating political commitment and financial investment to achieve significant reductions in maternal deaths and universal access to reproductive health. For those who cannot attend the conference in person, Women Deliver will be offering a live webcast of the plenary and presidential sessions.

Guttmacher staff and research will be featured at several events throughout the conference. If you will be at Women Deliver 2013, we invite you to attend the following panel discussions and events and visit our exhibit to hear more about our latest projects:


Panel: Expanding Access: Reaching the Hard to Reach (Internet Explorer users click here)
Tuesday, May 28, 11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M., Conference Hall 3
Moderator: Janet Jackson, Representative for Myanmar, United Nations Population Fund Presenters:
Muhammad Ali Pate, Honorable Minister of State for Health, Nigeria
Kesetebirhan Admasu, Honorable Minister of Health, Ethiopia
Susheela Singh, Vice President for Research, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Monique Clesca, Representative, United Nations Population Fund, Niger
Kokou Sename Djagadou, Member, Board of Directors, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, Kenya

While contraceptive prevalence rates have increased in many parts of the world, a continued challenge is bringing family planning services to those groups that are difficult to reach and often most in need. Panelists, including Susheela Singh, the Guttmacher Institute’s vice president for research, will discuss initiatives that are successfully expanding access to services for hard-to-reach, vulnerable groups, especially women and young people.


Panel: Youth and Family Planning (Internet Explorer users click here)
Tuesday, May 28, 11:30 A.M.–1:00 P.M., Room 306
Moderator: Jovana Ríos Cisnero, Board Member, IPPF Western Hemisphere Region Presenters:
Heather Boonstra, Senior Public Policy Associate, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Carlos Jimmy Macazana Quispe, Voluntary Partner, Instituto Peruano de Paternidad Responsable
Gwyn Hainsworth, Senior Advisor for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Pathfinder International
Pablo Aguilera, Director, HIV Young Leaders Fund
Faustina Fynn-Nyame, Country Director, Marie Stopes International
Shreejana Bajracharya, Youth Consultant, Ipas Nepal

Although inclusion of youth in sexual and reproductive health advocacy and programs has increased, critical gaps in information and services remain. Our Senior Public Policy Associate Heather Boonstra, along with her co-panelists, will give an overview of youth and family planning and discuss these topics from a youth-focused perspective.


Plenary Lunch: Closing the Gap on MDG 5 (Internet Explorer users click here)
Tuesday, May 28, 1:15 P.M.–2:30 P.M., Grand Ballroom 2
Moderator: Michael Holscher, Acting CEO, Marie Stopes International
Presenters:
Petra ten Hoope-Bender, Director for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Instituto de Cooperación Social Integrare
Dr. Jotham Musinguzi, Regional Director, Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office
Dr. Naveen Rao, Lead, Merck for Mothers
Susheela Singh, Vice President for Research, Guttmacher Institute, USA

Dr. Singh will present new data on maternal and neonatal health services during this plenary focused on the slow but accelerating progress toward Millennium Development Goal 5, to improve maternal health worldwide. New estimates of unmet need for maternal and neonatal health services for each region and subregion of the developing world are promising, as are the innovative advocacy and service delivery approaches that the plenary panel will discuss.


Screening: Abortion Worldwide Video (Internet Explorer users click here)
Tuesday, May 28, 3:00 P.M., Cinema Corner in the Exhibit Hall Join us for a screening of our short video presenting key evidence on abortion worldwide with the aim of ensuring that the debate on this issue is informed by facts and not misinformation.
The video will be shown at The Cinema Corner, a special feature of Women Deliver 2013.


Press Conference: New Data on Maternal and Newborn Health Services: How Much Progress Have We Made and How Much Work Remains to be Done?
Tuesday, May 28, 3:45 P.M.–4:30P.M., Press Room 302
Presenter:
Susheela Singh, Vice President for Research, Guttmacher Institute, USA

At this press conference, Dr. Singh will discuss findings from and the implications of the Guttmacher Institute’s new report, Adding it Up: The Need for and Cost of Maternal and Newborn Care Estimates for 2012. The report provides new regional and subregional data on the unmet need for maternal and newborn care and the costs and benefits of investing in such care.


Side Event: Using Research to Make the Case for Investments in Safe Abortion Care
Tuesday, May 28, 6:30 P.M.–8:30 P.M., Room 410
Presenters:
Akinrinola Bankole, Director of International Research, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Kelly Blanchard, President, Ibis Reproductive Health, USA
Patricio Sanhueza, Coordinator of Reproductive Health, Mexico City Secretariat of Health, Mexico
Joy Asasira, Program Officer for Human Rights Advocacy and Documentation, Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, Uganda

Along with Ibis Reproductive Health, we invite you to join a discussion of the cost of unsafe abortion to health care systems and to women, and how research can be used to inform better policies that improve the lives of women and families in the developing world. After the program, we invite you to enjoy drinks and appetizers and mingle with friends and colleagues.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Gustavo Suárez at [email protected].


Panel: Building on Current Momentum and Lessons Learned: Case Studies in Successful Advocacy to Expand Access to Safe Abortion (Internet Explorer users click here)
Thursday, May 30, 11:00 A.M.–1:00 P.M., Room 405
Moderator: Suchitra Dalvie, Coordinator, Asia Safe Abortion Partnership
Presenters:
Gilda Sedgh, Senior Research Associate, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Maria Mejia, Executive Director, Catholics for the Right to Decide
Joy Asasira, Program Officer, The Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development
Arzu Rana Deuba, Chairperson, Safe Motherhood Network Federation of Nepal
Suchitra Dalvie, Coordinator, Asia Safe Abortion Partnership

This panel, which includes Gilda Sedgh, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute, will discuss recent examples of positive policy changes and increased access to safe abortion and how the reproductive health and rights community can harness this momentum, learn from these experiences and adapt successful strategies in diverse contexts.


Panel: Sexuality and Fertility—Choices and Challenges for Women Living with or at Risk for HIV (Internet Explorer users click here),
Thursday, May 30, 3:00 P.M.–4:00 P.M., Room 307
Moderator: Megan Dunbar, Vice President of Research and Programs, Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation
Presenters:
Heather Boonstra, Senior Public Policy Associate, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Helena Nangombe, Volunteer, Namibia Women’s Health Network, ICW Global, Chapter for Young Women, Adolescents and Girls

For women living with HIV, being able to prevent, delay or space pregnancies is essential for health management and prevention of transmission of HIV to infants and partners. Equally important for many women is how to safely conceive and deliver babies while living with or being at risk for HIV. Ms. Boonstra will explore with her co-panelist the complexities of these issues and offer recommendations to the sexual and reproductive health and HIV communities.


Panel: DATA! What We Have, What’s Missing, and Why (Internet Explorer users click here)
Thursday, May 30, 3:00 P.M.–4:00 P.M., Room 406
Moderator: Prateek Awasthi, Technical Analyst, United Nations Population Foundation (UNFPA)
Presenters:
Ragnar Anderson, Research Associate, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Scientist, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization
Suzanne Petroni, Senior Director of Gender, Population and Development, International Center for Research on Women

Guttmacher Research Associate Ragnar Anderson will help discuss what is known about adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health and join her co-panelists in examining unique ways of gathering more evidence and identifying remaining gaps in information.


Panel: The 1-2-3 of New Contraceptive Technologies (Internet Explorer users click here)
Thursday, May 30, 3:00 P.M.–4:00 P.M., Conference Room 3
Moderator: Jane Hutchings, Global Programme Leader, Reproductive Health, PATH
Presenters:
Gilda Sedgh, Senior Research Associate, Guttmacher Institute, USA
Kirsten Vogelsong, Senior Programme Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
David Friend, Director, Product Development, CONRAD
Judy Manning, Health Development Officer, USAID

This panel, including Gilda Sedgh, senior research associate at Guttmacher, will discuss the development of acceptable, affordable, and appropriate technologies that can play a pivotal role in reducing unmet family planning needs.


Guttmacher Institute Exhibit
Take a break from the busy schedule and visit us in Exhibit Hall Four at booths 206, 211 and 212 (Internet Explorer users click here) to chat with our staff, pick up new materials and learn more about the breadth of our work.

Exhibit hours:
Tuesday, May 28, 8:00 A.M.–7:00 P.M.
Wednesday, May 29, 8:00 A.M.–8:30 P.M.
Thursday, May 30, 8:00 A.M.–5:30 P.M.


More information:

Women Deliver 2013 web and mobile app

The conference program (PDF)

Women Deliver’s Web site

More on our video, Abortion Worldwide (en español) (en français)