Global health nonprofit IntraHealth International highlights its commitment to eliminating geographic- and gender-based barriers to quality health care for women and their families in developing countries, and shares evidence-based strategies to reach related MDGs, next week at Women Deliver 2010.

Held June 7-9 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, Women Deliver is a global meeting of leaders, advocates and officials dedicated to delivering political, economic, cultural, and technological solutions that empower women and girls worldwide.

IntraHealth’s Maureen Corbett, vice president of Programs, and Maurice Middleberg, vice president of global policy and director of the CapacityPlus Project, will offer four presentations at the Women Deliver Conference, June 7-9, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

Corbett will present “Communities Engage and Reposition Family Planning” at the session Communities Deliver: Eliminating Disparities in Family Planning Access on June 9, 11:00-12:30pm, in room 151A. Corbett’s presentation will highlight key approaches IntraHealth is using to support the repositioning of family planning within communities as a social norm, drawing on experience with IntraHealth-led projects in Rwanda and Senegal. As discussed in Family Planning in Rwanda: How a Taboo Topic Became Priority Number One, IntraHealth participated in Rwanda’s repositioning of family planning, which resulted in significant gains in contraceptive prevalence. In Senegal, IntraHealth spearheaded strategies to “rebrand” family planning at the national and community level, balancing investments in strategies to increase the acceptability and demand for contraception with improvements to health workers’ capacity to meet increased demand.

Middleberg will give the opening presentation, “Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: Expanding access to skilled health workers,” at Human Resources for Maternal Health: What We Know, What We Don’t on June 8, 11:00-12:30pm, room 151B. This panel will discuss strategies for getting skilled health workers to rural facilities to provide needed maternal and newborn health care. The panel will also look at policy, preservice education, and health workforce planning approaches.

Middleberg will serve as a panel respondent on the panel Strengthening Health Systems for MNCH [Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health] Results: Best Practices on June 8, 1:30-3:00, in room 146B. This panel will examine the role of health systems strengthening in maternal, newborn, and child health, including financing and social protection, integrating health services, motivating health workers, and empowering communities and populations.

Middleberg will present “Building the Human Resources for Health Systems” at Strengthening the Global Health System for MNCH Results on June 8, 3:15-4:15pm, in room 145A/B. This panel will examine the evolution of global health system strengthening and explore ways of cooperating across numerous national and global health system strengthening initiatives.

IntraHealth staff will also be available to discuss the organization’s maternal health work at booth 415 in the exhibition hall.