Month: October 2010
Benjamin
This morning I met Benjamin for the first time. He is less than 20 days old and the son of good friends Dave and Janet. Everyone is happy and healthy. Benjamin is a beautiful baby.
Dave is a doctor, and I took some time to ask him about how things in his life have changed since the arrival of Benjamin. We also talked about the distinction between how wonderful medical care is in Australia, compared with what might be expected in what is referred to as a ‘developing country’.
How fortunate we are to experience almost very low child mortality and excellent maternal health. Dave was explaining how easy and cheap it would be to save so many life through simple interventions relating to hydration and hygiene. Simple things we take so much for granted that we don’t even think twice.
During the week a friend related a story where apparently in parts of Sudan the prevalence of child mortality was so high that new born babies are not given names.
I am thankful for Dave and Janet that things are different for Benjamin. How long will it be before child mortality and maternal health become taken for granted by almost everyone on earth?
Four Days to Go! 8 MDG: MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health
AT only 15 days old, Louis Paul Coutts-Trotter carries the weight of a nation. He’s the son of ALP Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek. Welcome to a wonderful world Louis!
- More than 350,000 women die annually from complications during pregnancy or childbirth, almost all of them — 99 per cent — in developing countries.
- The maternal mortality rate is declining only slowly, even though the vast majority of deaths are avoidable.
- In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman’s maternal mortality risk is 1 in 30, compared to 1 in 5,600 in developed regions.
- Every year, more than 1 million children are left motherless. Children who have lost their mothers are up to 10 times more likely to die prematurely than those who have not.
Today with only four days until the punishing task of running 10 sub-marathons across the globe inside of 30 days we turn to look at the fifth Millennium Development Goal- Improving Maternal Health.
The United Nations (UN) has two targets to meet this goal:
- Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
- Achieve universal access to reproductive health
So, what does the UN have to say about progress? Here are some comments directly from the UN:
- Most maternal deaths could be avoided
- Giving birth is especially risky in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where most women deliver without skilled care
- The rural-urban gap in skilled care during childbirth has narrowed
- More women are receiving antenatal care
- Inequalities in care during pregnancy are striking
- Only one in three rural women in developing regions receive the recommended care during pregnancy
- Progress has stalled in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies, putting more young mothers at risk
- Poverty and lack of education perpetuate high adolescent birth rates
- Progress in expanding the use of contraceptives by women has slowed
- Use of contraception is lowest among the poorest women and those with no education
- Inadequate funding for family planning is a major failure in fulfilling commitments to improving women’s reproductive health
Inequalities in care during pregnancy are striking. That is a strong choice of words from the UN. That is a concern.
Maternal mortality is declining, but more needs to be done. This report from the UN gives a good visual description of where the gap lies through use of comparative graphs. Take a look.
Don’t we all wish that every child and mother could enjoy the health and opportunity like Louis and Tanya.
(Please play Six Bridges of Separation- forward this to someone you know and see how long it takes to get to Tanya Plibersek. I’ll send out a blog once I hear back from her to let you know how long it took! Are we really that connected?!)
Incongruence and empty seats
Unhappy with the “still unsatisfactory” public attendance at competition venues, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), on Saturday, launched an investigation into complaints of unavailability of tickets despite many seats lying vacant at some stadiums.
At a Press conference on Saturday, CGF chief Michael Fennell made his stand clear when he interrupted OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot while he was answering a question on the ticketing issue, and said it was decided in a meeting that the matter would be investigated and the report submitted by Sunday.
When asked if blackmarketing of tickets was resulting in unavailability at counters, Bhanot said, “I don’t have any information on that…”
The report titled Irked by empty seats, fennell launches probe published today (10 October 2010) in the IndianExpress.com.
What should we make of this and does this have anything at all to do with extreme poverty?
Consider that there are more people living in poverty in India alone than in Africa. So says BBC News on 13 July earlier this year.
Eight Indian states account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African countries combined, a new measure of global poverty has found.
That is not a derogatory reflection on India. Great progress has been made in India moving people out of poverty, and this trend should be applauded and supported. There was also much media attention given to the state of the Commonwealth Games facilities prior to the opening of the current competition. I would suggest this has less to do with Indian technology, ingenuity and workmanship, but might be more related to what some have described in their opinion as a prevailing culture of corruption.
The games are part way through, and the Commonwealth Games Chief has ordered an investigation.
My response is what a completely incongruent response! In a city where the cost of food to eat out is measured (in Australian currency) in cents, and where the livelihood through income of many people is measured in the single figure digits of US Dollars.
There are better things we could be doing with our time, money and attention that worry about why the horse has already bolted. Could the frustration which Michael Fennel has rightfully expressed be more constructively leveraged elsewhere I wonder?
Irony in Fighting Poverty: Welcome to the consumerist age
My friend Armen made an interesting reflection the other day during a conversation. Like much of what he says, I needed to give it a day or two to think it over.
Hear me out, but I think there might be something in this.
I was walking past Town Hall Station yesterday and within the space of 100 metres passed three different groups of charity groups looking for people to ‘sign up’ for their cause. Each one had something to do with children and poverty. Each one had a different coloured t-shirt. All of them had slick looking sales materials and a well-rehearsed delivery just waiting for their next customer. Walking down the street I was conscious of them sizing me up and wondering whether I should be their next conversation.
These were people selling a solution to a need you didn’t know you had yet. You could buy your very own monthly subscription to ‘doing good’.
Armen was suggesting that much of the material presented by these groups related to the immediate physical needs of those in poverty. Maybe that is fair enough, given the lack of everything in which they live. And it also makes the message easier to communicate. Poster children for poverty. We look at the photographs and immediately assume so much. Nothing is really said about a spiritual or psychological need. Do these needs matter when someone is dying from physical want?
Over dinner tonight I spoke about this with my friend Bernie. Had we become consumers of ‘doing good’? Were we more influenced by brand and messaging than by actual need?
Bernie has some good experience in this area with the arts so it was interesting to hear what she had to say. Ethical issues of what is important and how we as individuals and society decide this. She also raised the important point that money is necessary to run an organisation.
What do we lose by becoming more consumer orientated?
Five Days to Go: 8 MDG. MDG 4- Reduce Child Mortality
Among the 64 countries with high child mortality rates (defined as 40 or more deaths per 1,000 live births), only 9 are on track to meet the MDG target on child survival. The highest rates of child mortality continue to be found in sub- Saharan Africa.
Child mortality is at the core of what the 10 City Bridge Run seeks to influence through leveraging the awareness of others. The outcomes this would ideally achieve includes greater creativity, influencing decision making through petition of the G20 Summit leadership, and mobilising money towards addressing two of the most immediate causes of child mortality that are also readily mitigated.
The target the United Nations (UN) has set through the Millennium Development Goal 4 is reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.
A brief summary from the UN expresses concern, but also a window of opportunity:
- Child deaths are falling, but not quickly enough to reach the target
- Revitalizing efforts against pneumonia and diarrhoea, while bolstering nutrition, could save millions of children
- Recent success in controlling measles may be short-lived if funding gaps are not bridged
The good news is that there has been progress. The bad news is that this is not a time for back-slapping and reprieve. Not by a long shot. As my friend Suji would say: “Unacceptable!”
Quoting a UN report worth opening for the comparative graph showing improvements, targets and contrasting death rates by region- an all too stark reminder of how bad things are in sub-Saharan Africa:
Despite these achievements, and the fact that most child deaths are preventable or treatable, many countries still have unacceptably high levels of child mortality and have made little or no progress in recent years.
This comment from the UN confirms the need for investment of money into projects that address issues of water and sanitation, as well as malaria:
There is increasing evidence that MDG 4 can be achieved, but only if countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Asia and Oceania target the biggest killers of children. In sub-Saharan Africa, diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia cause more than half of under-five deaths.
This is a tragedy played out daily.
The 10 City Bridge Run of itself won’t stop people dying. The awareness that it raises and the intervention it causes may well do though. Please sponsor this cause for $24.
I am working hard to make a difference. This is not something I can do alone. We need to act together. Please join me on this journey.
Training log: 9 October. 1600 m fast pace sets.
Good training this afternoon with five sets of 1600 m fast pace runs- less than a sprint, but faster than event pace.
Good response, and legs holding up well. Some good stretching before and afterwards.
I was running along Sydney Harbour between Mrs Macquaries Chair and the western apron of the Sydney Opera House. Unbeatable training location, except that toward the last 400m of the fourth set a filming crew had blocked the path preventing all pedestrian access. I wasn’t really happy about that, but had to work around it which initially I found frustrating but was a good reminder that not everything will go to plan. There will be bigger difficulties to contend with on the journey ahead.
Everyone feels pain the last 6 miles- Suck it up!
Confirming the route for New York and looking to run a 20 mile (32 km) road race on sunday 17 October with The New York Flyers (“From the website that reminds you: If you can’t fix it with duct tape, then it’s truly broken . . .”). It is eight km longer than I expected to run but I think I would be helped along with everyone else on the day.
Great training preparation video here (echoing Bob Dylon and shot with a Nikon D90) thanks to Mike Kobaland Toby Tanser.
The run is called the MTP 3 Bridges 20 Miler Redux. It starts on the Upper East Side on 85th and Lexington, heads to Central Park south to 72nd St then crossing to the Hudson River. Continuing south the Chambers St, it turns east and crossing the beautiful Brooklyn Bridge. The run turns north crossing into Queens at the Pulaski Bridge, and back onto Manhattan at 59th St using the Queensboro Bridge. Returning to Central Park, the run heads north to finish where it began.
I think this will be a good route. I will be taking it easy on the run, and it will be good to have some company!
Training log: 8 October. Shake out, sprints and stretch
Last week I took my training easy resting my legs as much as possible. Training last week was spent in the pool mainly doing sprints of deep water running for extended periods and light periods of stretching.
My legs had tired over the previous weeks, and were beginning to show the stress of overtraining combined with a lack of sufficient stretching.
Warming up tonight, and setting off for an initial run I felt as though I had a new pair of legs. Well rested and prepared for the start on Thursday.
Tonight after a warming up of stretches, light aerobic activity and dynamic stretches I went for a slow job followed by interval training of 12 x 200 m sprints along the waters edge of Sydney Harbour. The long nights of daylight savings with the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background made it very enjoyable.
I finished up with a slow 5 km jog ending with an extended period of stretching. Over the next few days I will focus on my diet and building up fuel for the journey ahead.
The Near Bank of the Bridge: Wrap up from New York
So what came out of the United Nations High-Level Summit to discuss the Millennium Development Goals late last month?
The irony of spending a lot of money for people to gather together and talk about poverty is something I am still thinking about…
The drama and grandiose of visiting the United Nations in New York must be appealing. Certainly this was reflected in Meredith Burgmann’s comments in an Op-Ed published in the Sydney Morning Herald. Meredith Burgmann, a former NSW ALP MP, is president of the Australian Council for International Development, and was part of the Australian delegation to the UN Conference on the Millennium Development Goals.
Disappointing progress in many areas.
Many failed promises blamed on the global financial crisis.
The meeting was overshadowed by Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, alleging the September 11 attacks were an American conspiracy in a separate meeting a few days after the Conference.
The New York Conference marks the beginning of a bridge I am defining for the 10 City Bridge Run.
It is the near bank.
Where we cross first.
The far bank defining the other side of the bridge is the G20 Summit.
Another important meeting of institutional and national leaders.
The G20 describes itself as the premier forum for international economic cooperation: “Our goal is to strengthen the global financial system and build a global economy rooted in sustainable growth and prosperity for all”.
The span, the bit in between, is all of us. All of us. Our global village.
I contend that what happens between us is as important as what happens at the two institutional meetings.
That is what the 1o City Bridge Run is about.
It is all about you, and me, and everyone else. We are responsible.
Meredith made an interesting comment about the MDG 3 which I am focusing on today:
One of my particular passions – the third goal, which promises to promote gender equality and empower women – is hardly mentioned. Maternal deaths seem to be important but not the empowerment of women. Tucked away in a side report was the astonishing information that of the nine countries that still have no women in parliament, six were in the Pacific. The percentage of women in Pacific parliaments is 2.9 per cent and even the next worst, the Middle East, has 12 per cent. It is a total disgrace and unless Australia begins to use its influence with the male leaderships of these countries, nothing will change.
Meredith wove the importance of how there is interplay between the MDG:
Rudd is particularly concerned with goals four and five, which deal with maternal health and child mortality. Improvement in maternal death rates has slowed dramatically. More than 500,000 women die each year of pregnancy-related causes. Australia announces that it is part of a newly launched public/private global alliance with the US, Britain, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to meet goals four and five and pledges $1.6 billion to this alliance. Rudd also promises to allocate $5 billion to education, $1.8 billion to food security and $1.2 billion for action on climate change over the next five years.
Check her article out here.
It is interesting that the embedded video is about Australian domestic political point-scoring. Is that a tacit commentary in itself on the importance and impact this conference had on a broader level back home in Australia? Interesting to note that many of my friends still have no idea of what an ‘MDG’ actually is. I think we will all know in 2015, although will this be for the right reasons?
I Dare You
The most powerful force of change on the planet is a girl. (Thanks to the input from my friends Judith, Anne and Billy who challenged this statement. I would reword it replacing ‘force of change’ with ‘force for change’. What do you think? Does it make a difference?)
Building Bridges 