Ann M. Veneman

The Huffington Post's Global Motherhood section joins Mothers Day Every Day, an initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE, in a countdown to Mother's Day. Pulling together diverse voices, Mothers Day Every Day is raising awareness and calling for greater U.S. leadership...

By Dan Glickman and Ann M. Veneman

The legislative events of last week had to surprise parents and educators who struggle to provide children with sound nutritional choices in a world often inhospitable to healthy behavior. Last Thursday night, lawmakers stripped the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) ability to limit...

The Huffington Post's Living section joins Mothers Day Every Day, a joint campaign of the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE, in a daily countdown to Mothers Day with special voices working to help save the lives of mothers and newborns around the world. Mothers Day Every Day is...

Last week in Guatemala I visited a UNICEF centre that houses girls as young as thirteen who have been rescued from brothels. The stories of suffering are simply unimaginable -- horrific situations of rape, prostitution, torture and lost innocence.

Among the devastation and rubble in Port au Prince where so many lives were lost and homes, schools, hospitals and businesses destroyed, signs of hope are emerging. Street vendors are selling food and clothing and shops are beginning to open in buildings that were not destroyed. People are literally building...

UNICEF joins so many around the world with our thoughts, prayers and support to help those impacted by the devastating earthquake and aftershocks that have struck in Haiti. Our hearts go out to the families whose lives have...

Five years ago the world watched in horror as nearly 230,000 people, particularly women and children, perished in the tsunami that struck south Asia. The powerful force washed away homes, schools and devastated communities, many of which were impoverished and...

On the anniversary of twentieth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child -- the most ratified human rights treaty in human history -- the leaders of five major organizations focusing on children make a joint plea to put children's best interests at the heart of human...

Today, nearly 200 million children under the age of five who live in the developing world suffer from stunted growth as a result of chronic maternal and childhood undernutrition.

Undernutrition steals a child's strength and makes illnesses that the body might otherwise fight off far more dangerous. But far more...

This past week I returned from a three day trip to Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa and one of the poorest in the world, with over half the population living under the poverty line. While there, I met with President Amadou Toumani Toure and other officials to discuss...

On this World Food Day more than one billion people are suffering from malnutrition and hunger, an increase of 100 million in just over a year. Consensus, international leadership and urgent action are needed to help end this global travesty.

At the recent G8 summit in Italy...

A series of tropical storms that have recently battered the Philippines continue, just yesterday causing additional flooding and mudslides. Earlier this week I returned from a trip to the country, seeing first-hand some of the extensive damage and visiting with victims and relief workers.

The amount of rain that...

During my recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I visited the Panzi Hospital, a UNICEF supported facility which specializes in treating victims of sexual violence. I was met there by Dr. Denis Mukwege, the founder and director of the facility.

While touring...

During a 2006 trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country ravaged by more than a decade of war, disease and hunger, I met a 12-year-old girl who told me her story of being brutally attacked and raped by four men. When I met her then you could...

Last March on a visit to Gaza after the region was devastated by constant bombing and conflict, I toured a relief center where young children were encouraged to express their feelings through art. It is often said that a picture can speak a thousand words. But what I saw there...

Last March on a visit to Gaza after the region was devastated by constant bombing and conflict, I toured a relief center where young children were encouraged to express their feelings through art. It is often said that a picture can speak a thousand words. But what I saw there...

Progress is being made to save the lives of mothers and newborns around the world. Still, every minute, a woman dies of complications in pregnancy and childbirth, leaving her baby more likely to die within two years. Most of these deaths could be prevented. Join The Huffington Post and the...