As seen in the Huffington Post on 21 September 2010. To read more about the Honorable Mary Robinson's recent visit to Sierra Leone and her meeting with His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma, click here.

World leaders are finally paying attention to a long under-prioritized global challenge - protecting women's health.

In June, G8 leaders meeting in Canada committed significant new resources for improving maternal and child health in the poorest nations. In July, the African Union Heads of State Summit in Kampala was dedicated to Maternal and Child Health. Plans for the launch by the UN Secretary General of a new Global Strategy on Women's and Children's Health are underway. And at the upcoming UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals, perhaps the largest ever gathering of heads of state will recommit to dramatically reducing the number of maternal deaths and increasing access to reproductive health services by 2015.