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As part of the Ananya programme, BBC Media Action is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reduce maternal and infant mortality by 40% in Bihar, India by 2015.

This year, the Nature Conservancy is working with Pathfinder International in Western Tanzania to prove that protecting the health of individuals and their natural resources (food, water, soil) will improve their livelihoods significantly as opposed to only treating one issue.

“With our help, the women decided to get together and address their issues collectively. Hence, we held elections in June 2011 and a core committee of 12 FSWs got elected. The task before them was not just related to their business like ensuring no minors in brothels or propagating condom usage but taking up issues beyond their profession," said Dr Khursid Bhalla from Pathfinder International.

Representatives from charities in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka gathered in New Delhi last week at the regional launch of the "Girls Not Brides" alliance created by Tutu, 80, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for speaking out against white minority rule in South Africa.

"Government ownership is critical [for improving reproductive health]," says Dan Pellegrom, President of Pathfinder International, which has worked in the country since 1964." And Ethiopia's government took ownership." That ownership took the form of renewed commitment to women and girls, and creative collaborations with aid agencies to make long-acting contraceptive methods in particular more available. (Injectable contraceptives are by far the most popular method countrywide).

"This new project is a welcome development for many reasons," said ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko. "It brings the integrated PHE approach to one of the world's greatest lakes, it enables respected health NGO Pathfinder to pursue PHE efforts, and marks the return of a leading private donor, the MacArthur Foundation, to a group of foundations willing to support this innovative approach."

Nilton Saraiva explicou que todo o país é endémico, embora as regiões do norte sejam as mais vulneráveis. "A Pathfinder International é um parceiro que tem levado a assistência e os nossos serviços às comunidades, sobretudo às mulheres grávidas. É dos parceiros mais importantes que temos", disse.

Speaking to the press, Miguel Cordeiro said the amount has been invested in distribution of mosquito nets, training of health personnel and awareness campaigns against the disease. He said that the combat against malaria in pregnant women has been highlighted because it constitutes a major cause of death in this population group.

Research from the Futures Group shows that meeting women's needs results in a significantly slowed population trajectory, with world population topping out at eight billion in 2050. According to recently revised UN estimates, without this intervention population could rise to 10 or even 12 billion by century's end. Meeting this need is also a smart investment: Our research estimates that access to modern contraception for all who want it would cost $3.7 billion per year. Others have estimated the savings in health care costs of providing contraception to all who want it at $5.1 billion per year. Family planning is cost-effective; it has been estimated that a dollar spent on family planning can save between $15 and $20 in education, health, housing, and other socio-economic support costs, making the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals cheaper for developing countries.

In many areas of Angola, including the Luanda Province, hospitals are hours away. Pathfinder has undertaken construction of two maternity wards in Kilamba Kiaxe and Cacuaco to improve access to care and increase the number of safe deliveries. New delivery staff are being trained to provide insecticide treated nets for malaria protection, voluntary counseling and testing services for HIV/AIDS, postpartum family planning services, and vitamin supplementation within these maternity wards to ensure women receive much needed care.

Hauwa Mansour Waziri, the nurse who heads the hospital's pre-natal clinic, says that between 350 and 450 pregnant women, some as young as 15, now take advantage of these services each week. Some travel from neighbouring states to receive ultrasounds, counselling on "danger signs" in pregnancies, and information on nutrition. They are strongly urged to arrive at the hospital to deliver "while you can still walk". Those who wait until the last minute can endanger the life of their child.

Pathfinder International, a reproductive health NGO, is using the NASG in Nigeria and India. Dr. Farouk Jega, program manager in Pathfinder's Abuja, Nigeria office, says that the NASG helps address a critical problem in his country, where blood is often in short supply. "Clinicians can't always refrigerate blood banks because of spotty electricity, and many people don't want to donate blood because they fear being tested for HIV," says Dr. Jega.

The initial results of this pilot are promising. In one year, community educators reached 29,000 people, leading to an 18 percent jump in awareness in the benefits of delaying marriage. The program was instrumental in preventing 53 girl-child marriages.

Speaking on the occasion, Pathfinder International's Country Director Dr Tauseef Ahmed said, "Pakistan has steadily improved family planning services over time but the progress has been limited due to absence of a holistic approach and poor use of evidence for programmatic development."