Girls Rising, Women Leading #IWD2017

On this International Women's Day, there is much to celebrate! The success of the Women's March here in the United States was magnified many times over, joined by women from cities from all over the world. The message? Women--of all races and ethnicities, shapes and sizes, religions, and sexual identities--deserve equal rights, equal pay, and a say in what happens to our bodies.

It's unbelievable that in 2017, girls as young as ten to twelve years old are forced into early marriage and motherhood. Today, women and girls still succumb to the very childbirth they are discouraged from preventing with contraception, and/or for which there is insufficient prenatal care. We are still fighting to change cultural practices that celebrate female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM), and it is imperative that we advocate for girls to receive a complete education, so that they may pursue the careers they desire, and the dreams they hold in their hearts.

Though we face such challenges, the solidarity exhibited in recent events serves as a beam of hope for women the world over. What can we not achieve when we band together and help one another? On this #IWD2017, we celebrate the steps forward international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Childbirth Survival International (CSI) are taking in making our collective voices heard and in advancing health and well-being for women and girls around the globe.

In 2016, CSI conducted its first midwifery training course for licensed midwives and community health workers in Tanzania to promote respectful medical care and healthier pregnancies for women. In January 2017--Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, CSI sponsored free gynecological screenings for women in Uganda. Health education for women, girls, and communities remains a priority. Male health workers and leaders have been included in CSI's outreach work, reiterating that the inequality and inability to access women's health care negatively impacts everyone, not just women and girls. Through grassroots efforts like these and continued collaborations across sectors, there's hope for girls to rise and for women to lead. #GirlsRisingWomenLeading

With momentum gleaned from the current women's movement, the sky is the limit to what we can achieve. Happy International Women’s Day!

By Kimberly Sarvis, CSI Blog Writer

---