The Aspen Institute and the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health (GLC) visited Malawi for a consultation on the Presidential Initiative for Maternal Health and Safe Motherhood hosted by President Banda and convened by the Aspen Institute. The Presidential Initiative, which seeks to increase the availability, accessibility and utilization of maternal and newborn health care services to accelerate improvement of maternal and newborn health through community involvement, was launched in April 2012.

Participants – including Malawi government officials at the highest levels, civil society and donor government representatives – discussed progress to date on implementation of the Presidential Initiative’s priorities and identified specific opportunities for the GLC and other partners to support the expansion of access to reproductive health care in Malawi. The Aspen Institute is currently exploring the opportunities identified in the consultation, which included support for communications with potential donors, involvement of chiefs, training of community midwives, and design of the maternity waiting shelters.

Photo Credit: John Cary