Citizens' Voice

On July 11, the UK government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hosted a groundbreaking summit to provide women in the world's poorest countries with lifesaving contraceptives, information and services by 2020. The Summit provided a platform for new political commitments and resources to transform the lives of millions of women and girls, to reduce maternal mortality and to help lift families, communities, and nations out of poverty.

I attended the summit with the government delegation from Bangladesh, who traveled to London to participate in discussions on how to ensure that women -- especially young women -- are aware of their rights and empowered to demand family planning services and that they are able to do this regardless of where they live, or how much money they have.

I am also pleased to be able to bring you this video report from London, where 'Citizens' Voice' interviewed the government of Bangladesh, the vice president of Malawi, the president of the International Confederation of Midwives, the director of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health and the editor of The Lancet to hear their reflections from the summit and more about specific commitments their countries made.

These commitments are just the start! We must ensure that commitments to increase family planning services actually reach the women who need them. We commit to working with our networks to ensure that commitments are costed and implemented by national governments, and to mobilizing citizens, civil society and the media to hold leaders to account.

For more information on our activities around the summit please see @WRAGlobal and our Facebook Page.