To the Young People of Women Deliver:  

 

Happy New Year!  Almost three months have passed since our monumental convergence in London.  We worked tirelessly to push youth issues into the spotlight and asked that the nearly 2,000 leaders in attendance take notice of our strengths, our vulnerabilities, and our absence in policies and programming.  We were bold and loud, and we were noticed.

 

As Brian Ackerman, International Policy Associate of Advocates for Youth wrote after the conference, "I saw the most potential for action in the youth.  Women Deliver showed me more than anything else that if and when maternal mortality is to be reduced substantially at a global level it will be done…through a model of collective and equitable support, a new model of global development that is defined most purely by those who know the new world best: its youth."  

 

Young people contributed advocacy strategies and tools, research, and first-hand experiences in what young people need and want to support good sexual decision making.  At the Deliver for Youth Commitments Desk, we collected 83 commitments for meaningful youth inclusion and participation from decision-makers across the globe.  With these commitments in hand, we can take the next step in this campaign for young people's maternal and reproductive health and rights.  We will be posting highlights from these commitments on a new post-conference youth section of the Women Deliver website—we will send an alert as soon as the new site is live.

 

For now, we want to hear from you!  Visit www.womendeliver.com now to share your experience at Women Deliver and how this landmark event is influencing your work.  Send your stories and photos from the event to info@... and fill out a conference evaluation form if you did not fill one out at the conference.

 

We look forward to working with you in 2008 to advocate for maternal health and other sexual and reproductive rights in the wake of Women Deliver.  Family Care International is committed to maintaining the Deliver for Youth (D4Y) campaign to work with young advocates to make the most of up-coming strategic opportunities to link maternal health and youth issues.  The new website and this list-serve will carry news and advocacy materials for upcoming events including the UN Commission on the Status of Women on February 25-March 5, 2008 and the International AIDS Conference in Mexico in August 2008.  We are excited about continued collaboration, and if you know of other young advocates anywhere in the world who would be interested in participating, please invite them to join this list by emailing vbrocato@.... 

 

                                                                                    We'll be in touch soon!

 

                                                                                    All the best,

Naomi and Vanessa