MSD Provides Grant to JOICFP for Maternal Health Initiative in Myanmar
- Information
2019.4.10
The first Japanese NGO selected by the MSD for Mothers Global Giving program
MSD K.K. (head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Jannie Oosthuizen; “MSD”) announced that Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Yasushi Akashi; “JOICFP”) was selected by MSD for Mothers as part of their Global Giving program.
JOICFP is the first Japanese NGO selected and will receive $950,000 (approximately 105 million Japanese yen) for it’s program “Overcoming socio-cultural and decision-making barriers to family planning and maternal health services in rural areas of Myanmar”, a three-year project to improve maternal health in Myanmar.
MSD for Mothers is MSD’s global initiative to end preventable deaths of women from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Since it launched in 2011, the initiative has worked with more than 100+ partners, supporting more than 50 projects in over 30 countries. The Global Giving program is a corporate grants program that enables MSD offices around the world to support nongovernmental organizations that are strengthening maternal healthcare, and is designed to be responsive to local women’s needs. Funds are provided by both MSD for Mothers and the local MSD office.
（Photo: Jannie Oosthuizen, President, MSD (right) and Mayumi Katsube, Member of Board of Directors, Executive Director, JOICFP (left)）
“We are thrilled that JOICFP was selected for MSD for Mothers Global Giving program for the first time as a Japanese NGO”, said Jannie Oosthuizen, President, MSD K.K. “As a member of Asia, it is very significant to support the project which aims at improving the maternal health environment in Myanmar. MSD will continue to actively engage in CSR activities as a responsible corporate citizen”
JOICFP’s program “Overcoming socio-cultural and decision-making barriers to family planning and maternal health services in rural areas of Myanmar” will be executed from March 2019 to March 2022, which includes improvement program for access to maternal health services in Ayeyawady Region, one of the Delta areas located in the southwestern Myanmar, working closely with Department of Public Health, Minisry of Health and Sports, Republic of the Union of Myanmar and others. The project aims to contribute in reducing maternal mortality by increasing the uptake of family planning serivces to prevent uninteded pregnancies leading to the reduction of unsafe abortion, and timely access to pregnant women to prenatal and postpartum care. Obstacles preventing women from receiving appropriate family planning services, such as socio-cultural barriers and financial burden will be tackled with.
”We, our parthers in Myanmar and JOICFP, are deligted to receive this grant from MSD for Mothers Global Giving Program. JOICFP together with the counterparts and community people will strive to create supportive and sustainable environment for enabling women access to family planning and maternal health services in rural communities of Myanmar. We also would like to apply the experiences and insights to be gained from this project in other areas and activities”, said Mayumi Katsube, Member of Board of Directors, Executive Director, JOICFP.
MSD for Mothers focuses on helping countries reduce maternal mortality and improve maternal health with the overall aim of supporting United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1, which was adopted in September 2015 and calls for a global reduction in the maternal mortality ratio to fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.
About MSD for Mothers
MSD for Mothers is a $500 million initiative to create a world where no woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Drawing on MSD’s history of discovering innovative, life-saving medicines and vaccines, MSD for Mothers is applying the company’s scientific and business expertise – as well as its financial and human resources – to reduce maternal mortality around the world. Learn more at www.msdformothers.com and @MSDforMothers.
About MSD
For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for the world’s most challenging diseases. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and communities around the world – including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information, visit www.msd.co.jp and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About JOICFP
JOICFP is a Japan-based international NGO, striving to create a world where no woman dies in childbirth through realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment in 36 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Established in 1968 in response to requests for technical transfer of the post-war Japan’s experience in promoting family planning and maternal and child health, JOICFP works to improve the health status of women, men and young people through community-led initiatives that provide appropriate knowledge and necessary basic sexual and reproductive health services and creating an eabling and supportive environment at the grassroots level where access is limited. For more information, please visit our website https://www.joicfp.or.jp/jpn/
