On May 28 – 30, 2013, thousands of participants from 160 countries will meet in Kuala Lumpur for the 3^rd global Women Deliver Conference.  Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization bringing together voices from around the world to call for action to improve the health and well-being of girls and women.

It’s been three years since the last Women Deliver Conference in Washington, D.C., and with the 2015 Millennium Development Goal deadline on the horizon, government leaders, policymakers, healthcare professionals, NGO representatives, corporate leaders, and global media outlets will look back on the progress that’s been made knowing the journey to meeting the unmet need for family planning and maternal and newborn health care is far from over. According to the World Health Organization, every year, 99% of some half a million maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Despite the increase in contraceptive use over the past 30 years, significant unmet needs remain in all regions. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, one in four women who wish to delay or stop childbearing does not use any family planning method.

On May 18, 2013, The Lancet published a special themed issue to coincide with the Women Deliver conference highlighting some of the latest research and views on maternal health.  The studies published in The Lancet use different methods to show the multidimensional nature of reproductive health and the influence of social determinants and health systems.

For more information on these related topics, POPLINE has provided the following searches:

• Maternal and newborn health
• Women's groups and peer counseling
• Meeting unmet need for family planning
• Family planning for HIV-infection women
• Obstetric fistula
• Improving knowledge, attitudes, and skills of adolescents