Government leaders, members of civil society, the UN, academia, the private sector from across the world participated at the two-day virtual event Lives in the Balance and spoke out about the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health, and unveiled targeted, time-bound commitments for focused action. 

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The Lives in the Balance event attended by more than 1000 global citizens, was organized by The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) a multi-constituency partnership hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO), together with the CORE Group, the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children, and Adolescents, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Key Speakers included Anuradha Gupta, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Lopa Banerjee, Chief of the Civil Society Section at UN Women; Vandita Morarka Founder & CEO, One Future Collective, India besides Helen Clark - former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Board Chair of PMNCH, Mia Mottley - Prime Minister, Barbados, Michelle Bachelet - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Borge Brende - President, World Economic Forum, Jennifer Klein - Executive Director, White House Gender Policy Council, USA.

“COVID-19 has exacerbated underlying inequities, with vulnerable populations that are already living on the margins and are so often bereft of basic health services being hardest hit. The knock-on impact of the pandemic on childhood vaccination in lower income countries has been devastating, with millions of children missing out on timely, life-saving immunizations,” said Anuradha Gupta, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. 

At the previous “Lives in the Balance” meeting in December 2020, ten national governments including India had made a pledge of $20.6 billion and issued statements describing their national and ODA commitments to prioritizing women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health in COVID-19 response plans. India had pledged $2 billion out of $20.6 billion with an enhanced focus on women, children, adolescents and the most vulnerable.

These commitments respond to rising need. Given that progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to women’s, children’s, and adolescents’ health was already off track by some 20 per cent before the crisis, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need for dedicated action for the most vulnerable.

A seven-point Call to Action on COVID-19, backed by PMNCH’s 1,000-member platform, seeks to protect and prioritize the rights and health of women, children, and adolescents during the COVID-19 response and recovery. The Call seeks to strengthen investment, policies, and services for the recovery of health services, as well as protection of rights and future socio-economic resilience.  The statements, aligning with the PMNCH Call to Action, outlined a significant array of efforts to improve SRHR, gender equality, service quality, and adolescent health and well-being, among other priorities.