IMA observes International Women's Day

 

By Emily Esworthy/IMA

Tuesday, March 8th marked the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day—a day that united the world in the celebration and empowerment of women.

At IMA World Health, this is our goal every single day.

In many of the countries where we work, women continue to be oppressed or undervalued because of longstanding, male-centered cultural belief systems. This leads to violence as well as a lack of access to education and essential health care.

Women's health is a central, critical part of IMA's work to advance health. Pregnancy and childbirth can be significant health burdens to women in developing countries, and a mother's health also directly affects that of her children. When women receive the access to health care they need and deserve, we improve health in the community as a whole.

Here are just some of the ways IMA has been caring for women the past year:

Fighting Sexual and Gender Based Violence. In eastern DR Congo, where rape and violence against women continue to make headlines, IMA and partners are providing care and counseling for victims of this violence through a USAID-funded program called USHINDI, the Swahili word for "Victory." This program is also working to educate communities and to change the culture of violence against women.

Making Women's Health a Priority. For the past four years, IMA was the primary implementer of the massive USAID-funded Project AXxes in a remote part of DR Congo that desperately needed a better system of health care for its population of 8 million people. Project AXxes reported many incredible achievements in advancing women's health, including:

• Completed 1,276 fistula repair surgeries, restoring dignity and health to women who had been seriously injured in childbirth or through sexual abuse
• Conducted more than 1 million prenatal visits for women who would have likely received no prenatal care otherwise
• Provided HIV counseling to more than 200,000 pregnant women and prevented 983 HIV+ women from infecting their unborn children
• Helped 849,306 women select new methods in family planning to improve health by increasing the time between pregnancies

MAISHA: Hope to women and their babies. MAISHA means "life" in Swahili, and it is also an acronym meaning "Mothers and Infants – Safe, Healthy, Alive." Launched in Tanzania in 2008, MAISHA is a USAID-funded maternal and newborn child health program. The goal is to improve childbirth survival rates for mothers and increase the number of babies born healthy and safe from disease.

Enabling Safe Childbirth. To support maternal health, IMA also distributes our Safe Motherhood Kit™ to ensure that expectant mothers have clean and sterile birthing supplies and a layette to keep their newborns warm. Last year 4,760 women in Haiti, DR Congo and Pakistan were given a chance at a safe birth thanks to this program.

Get Involved! Celebrate International Women's Day with us and make a donation to support our work in advancing women's health around the world!