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The W8: Eight extraordinary women, one unique voice

We are eight women from eight poor countries around the world - Bangladesh, Georgia, India, Malawi, Mali, Nicaragua, the Philippines, and Thailand - who have come together because we have a shared cause. We work with our communities, networks and governments to get more people access to doctors, midwives, nurses and affordable medicines. We work to get more children into school, and to give them a quality education. Our work with Oxfam helps us to bring these issues to the attention of a global audience.

Health and education are fundamental rights for every woman, man, girl and boy. Investing in these basic services is the best way to fight poverty and inequality. If people are healthy and educated they can earn a living, provide for their families and contribute to the development of their country. But the truth is that millions of people still can't access these essential services.

In 2000, at the UN Millennium Summit, 189 countries signed up to the Millennium Development Goals, committing to halve poverty by 2015.  2010 sees us two thirds of the way to meeting these targets, and despite the fact that some progress has been made, the overall picture does not look good. Many countries, including our own, are falling behind on meeting their MDG targets. This is partly because at the very least there are 6 million too few teachers, doctors and nurses in schools, hospitals and clinics around the world. 

There are other reasons: poor quality services, fees people cannot afford to pay, long distances that must be travelled to the nearest clinic or school and the discrimination that many poor and marginalized groups - especially women - face. In many households across the world, health concerns of women and girls do not get enough attention. Girls are kept away from education by long distances to schools, the lack of proper facilities and household chores being given priority. And lack of empowerment - no decision making power, lack of mobility, disproportionate work burden, violence, low status - undermines their health and their ability to access health services.

As a consequence half a million women die each year of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, ninety-nine percent of them in developing countries. This is one woman a minute. Ninety percent of these deaths are preventable, and for every woman who dies, 30 more suffer chronic illness or disability as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. This year in India 100,000 women will die in childbirth. In Malawi fourteen mothers will die today, and tomorrow, and every day until something changes. Georgia has with 66 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with an European Region average of 27. In Thailand and the Philippines people do not have access to affordable medicines. What's more the current economic crisis is threatening to reverse the gains that have been made. The World Bank estimates 1.4 to 2.8 million more children could die between 2009 and 2015 if the crisis persists.

Education for all children by 2015 is also still more a dream than a reality. There are some one million primary-age children out of school in both Mali and the Philippines. In Bangladesh and India combined there are nearly nine million primary-age children out of school. In Nicaragua only half of the children who begin primary school make it to the last grade. Yet a quality education means a better understanding of basic rights, of health and hygiene, and it improves economic performance. It is a pre-condition for tackling health, water and environmental challenges facing many developing countries.

We are deeply concerned about the world's poorest and most vulnerable people. For this reason, we are making every effort to get their voices heard by political leaders and the public worldwide. We're calling on governments to keep promises to make health and education accessible for all people around the world, particularly for girls.

We call on the governments in our eight countries to prioritize health and education, and to ensure that domestic resources and aid reach those who need it most.

We call on rich country governments to stick to their promises to deliver more and better quality aid to developing countries and to spend more aid money on health and education.   

We are doing our bit; we hope you will do yours.

  • Miranda Akhvlediani, Coalition Future without Poverty, Georgia
  • Kady Baby, National Coalition Education for All, Mali
  • Leonor Magtolis Briones, Social Watch Philippines/ Alternative Budget Initiative, Philippines
  • Rokeya Kabir, My Rights Campaign, Bangladesh
  • Jiraporn Limpananont, Free Trade Agreement Watch coalition, Thailand
  • Dorothy Ngoma, National Organization of Nurses and Midwives of Malawi, Malawi
  • Elba Rivera-Urbina, National Campaign for Education, Nicaragua
  • Sandhya Venkateswaran, National Coalition Don't Break Your Promises, India