Women’s Refugee Commission Recognized on Top 50 List of Ideas and Solutions Improving the Lives of Girls and Women Worldwide

Women Deliver Features Grassroots and Global Initiatives that Promote a Better World for Girls and Women

Women Deliver, a global advocacy organization, announced the “Women Deliver 50,” a compilation of the 50 most inspiring ideas and solutions that are delivering for girls and women across the globe. After receiving hundreds of online nominations from 103 countries, a selection committee chose 125 finalists to be voted on by the public. More than 6,000 individuals participated in the online voting. The Women's Refugee Commission’s project “Reducing Maternal Mortality through Disaster Risk Reduction Policy and Planning” is honored to be among the winning selections.

“The solutions on this list show that with ingenuity, drive and dedication, we can build a better world for girls and women,” said Jill Sheffield, Women Deliver Founder and President. “We are proud to celebrate these organizations and programs, which are pioneering real, lasting, social change at the local and global levels. We have seen time and time again that when we invest in girls and women, entire societies benefit.”

The “Women Deliver 50” list showcases advocacy campaigns; health interventions; technologies; educational initiatives and leadership programs. The initiatives, which range from grassroots to global, are led by social entrepreneurs, civil society, governments, international agencies and private companies.

“The Women's Refugee Commission is proud to be recognized for our groundbreaking work to save refugee women’s and girls’ lives through innovative ways to prevent maternal mortality,” said Sarah Costa, executive director of the Women's Refugee Commission. “By planning ahead and working with communities themselves, lives can be saved when natural disasters strike or conflict erupts.”

Of the 50 ideas and solutions featured, 25 are centered in sub-Saharan Africa, 9 in Asia, 5 in the Middle East and North Africa, 4 in Latin America, and 2 in Europe and North America, while the others are global in reach. A selection committee of experts and advocates representing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Medic Mobile, Room to Read, Man Up and the International Center for Research on Women, narrowed down the original list of nominations for voting. Women Deliver President, Jill Sheffield, acted as Chair.

Other inspirational solutions featured in the Women Deliver 50 include Aawaaj, an organization in Nepal that works to break the silence around sexual violence, Backpack Farm’s project in Kenya and South Sudan to build the capacity of female farmers, and the newly launched campaign “Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage.”

The Women's Refugee Commission’s “Reducing Maternal Mortality through Disaster Risk Reduction Policy and Planning” project was nominated because of its impact on displaced girls and women around the world. For more information, read our report Incorporating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights into Emergency Preparedness and Planning: Lessons learned from national-level efforts in Haiti, Uganda and South Sudan.

View the entire Women Deliver 50 list at www.womendeliver.org.

###

About the Women's Refugee Commission: The Women's Refugee Commission advocates for laws, policies and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, children and young people, including those seeking asylum—bringing about lasting, measurable change. Through research and fact-finding field missions, the Women's Refugee Commission  identifies critical problems that affect displaced women, children and young people, including gaps in lifesaving reproductive health care, lack of dignified livelihoods for refugees and, in the United States, the treatment of asylum-seekers. We document best practices and propose solutions, and develop innovative tools to improve the way humanitarian assistance is delivered in refugee settings. On Capitol Hill, at the United Nations and with humanitarian organizations, governments and donors, we push for improvements in refugee policy and practice until measurable long-term change is realized.

About Women Deliver: Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization that brings together voices from around the world to call for improved health and well being for girls and women. Launched in 2007, Women Deliver works globally to generate political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 — to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health. Building from the groundbreaking conferences Women Deliver convened in 2007 and 2010, Women Deliver harnesses commitments, partnerships, and networks to help prevent the approximately 350,000 deaths of girls and women from pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes that occur every year. Women Deliver’s message is that maternal health is both a human right and a practical necessity for sustainable development.  Invest in women—it pays.