The introduction of cell phones and internet access has dramatically reduced the number of maternal deaths in villages of Ghana, reports IRIN Africa News. Health workers say that “the availability of cell phones has been pivotal” in preventing maternal deaths. Since the technology came to Amensie village in 2006, not a single maternal death has occurred. In districts with only one midwife or ambulance, many pregnant women in remote villages were unable to reach out for medical assistance in an emergency. A project of Millennium Villages, the cell phone initiative is an effort to realize the UN Millennium Development Goals.

According to UNICEF, half of the pregnant women in Ghana “give birth at home with no skilled health worker present.” Beginning in 2006, mobile handset producer Ericsson teamed up with mobile communications provider Zain to install internet access and mobile phone coverage in remote villages. The Vice-President of Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, Elaine Weidman, told IRIN:

“We entered the project because we believe information and communications technology play a critical role in helping to end the poverty cycle.”

Read the full article: Ghana: cell phones cut maternal deaths -IRIN Africa News

At the Clinton Global Initiative annual summit last week a new program was launched called Technologies to Improve Women’s Economic Livelihoods, which aims to “help identify and deploy technologies and innovations that can improve quality of life and enable women to participate more fully in income-generating activities.”

The $1.5 million dollar program is sponsored by Exxon Mobil Corporation, Ashoka’s Changemakers, a global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW).

Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka’s Changemakers, said, “We have seen what individuals can do to engineer change in their communities. This collaborative search will help us see how technology innovations for women can be part of the solution to global poverty.”

Press Release

Since 2006, Vital Voices has partnered annually with the U.S. State Department and FORTUNE Magazine to provide international emerging women leaders in business the opportunity to develop their leadership, management and business skills through the FORTUNE/State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. This unique program combines the study of U.S. business culture with a working mentorship program that enables emerging women business leaders across the globe to spend a month in the U.S. to enhance their capabilities and propel their careers forward. Top American female executives - Fortune’s Most Powerful Women - mentor these emerging leaders to support them in their professional growth.

More Magazine writes about the program and interviews Fortune editor-at-large Patricia Sellers about it.

Read the article at More.com

Related Content:

Listen to interviews with participating mentors and mentees of the 2007 and 2008 programs

CNN Money Blog Post about the program by Patricia Sellers

January 21st, Vital Voices was featured in the Gulf Daily News for our work to combat domestic violence in Bahrain and the rest of the Middle East.

With support from public and private sectors alike, we will continue working with local shelters and organizations in Bahrain and Jordan that support abuse victims, to co-ordinate their activities and create a national framework for combating domestic violence. Continue Reading »

This morning participants traveled to the Malba, Buenos Aires’ modern museum of art where we enjoyed a tour and admired works from some of the region’s most innovative 20th century artists—including those of Frida Kahlo, a trailblazer for women in her own time.

After a brief tour, participants sat down to listen to the speeches of International Development Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno and Dina Powell, Managing Director, Global Head of Corporate Engagement for Goldman Sachs & Co., who announced their partnership to commission a new study that will make the case for investing in women entrepreneurs throughout the Americas. Continue Reading »

The Summit kicked off with a bang this morning.  About 200 leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean poured into our opening plenary session, where they were greeted by Summit Moderator and Former CNN International Anchor, Sonia Ruseler.

Throughout the course of the morning we heard from women leaders, including President Michelle Bachelet of Chile and Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton (pre-recorded), who reinforced the same message: empowering women will uplift nations and change the course of history.

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When I first discovered Vital Voices, I was an economics student. Now, after my experience and the end of my mentorship, I still am an econ major, but with a passionate interest on development. Through Vital Voices I have learned about the imperative role that women have in developing countries, especially in mine, El Salvador. This role of mediator between home, family, job, community and country is a tough one, and one that I was able to partially understand through my mentorship in the Corporate Sustainability Department of HSBC, and will continue to understand as I explore some or all of a woman’s roles myself. The greatest example of success in balancing different roles that I had during my time at HSBC was that of my mentor, Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, an exceptional woman whose eclectic accomplishments, I have described previously.

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After my experience in Guatemala I began working in HSBC with my mentor, María Eugenia de Avila, who is currently Group Corporate Sustainability Head for Latin America. Learning about the bank’s brand of being the “world’s local bank” I have discovered the ample possibilities that a highly recognized bank has in a developing country like El Salvador. I have been working closely with the Corporate Sustainability head for El Salvador, Valeria Rosales, who has taught me about HSBC’s global policies concerning the advancement of educational opportunities and the preservation of the environment, two vital pillars for the sustainable development of any region. HSBC’s education program, Future First’s main goal is to financially support destitute children who are often orphaned or live on the streets and who never have a chance to obtain an education. HSBC’s Climate Partnership’s main goal is to raise awareness and concern about the detrimental effects of global warming in order to motivate the bank’s employees and clients to make an effort to reduce their negative environmental impacts.

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This morning Melanne and I joined Goldman Sachs in launching their 10,000 Women Initiative. It was an extraordinary event - a sea of primarily businessmen in black suits talking about the importance of investing in women to build a better future for us all.

But it was an even more extraordinary commitment - over the next five years Goldman Sachs will provide 10,000 women with a business and management education.
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Amman-Jordan - Our conference on “Leveraging Corporate-Community Partnerships for Women’s Progress,” came to a close yesterday in Amman. This conference was an opportunity for participants to learn from experts in the field and work together to identify best practices in creating and strengthening cross-sectoral partnerships. It was an amazing experience to see participants from across the region forge new connections and networks. The conference closed with great energy and optimism for the future. Continue Reading »