White Ribbon Alliance INC
Healthy Women, Healthy World
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Women and newborns are dying in unacceptable numbers around the world, the vast majority from preventable causes. This travesty keeps individuals, families, communities, and countries from reaching their full potential. Girls and women are not able to make decisions about their own healthcare and often lack access to quality respectful and dignified care throughout their lifetimes. Barriers to quality care are deeply engrained across societies.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
White Ribbon Alliance Malawi
White Ribbon Alliance Malawi (WRA Malawi) was established in 2002 to support reduce maternal and newborn mortality caused by an overall shortage of midwives. Historically, women in Malawi have chosen to deliver at home because health facilities are often poorly staffed and poorly equipped. WRA Malawi, a group of mostly volunteer advocates, is dedicated to holding the Government of Malawi to its commitment to strengthen human resources for health, including accelerating training and recruitment of health professionals to fill all available positions in the health sector.
White Ribbon Alliance Uganda
White Ribbon Alliance Uganda (WRA Uganda) was established in 2009 to give a voice to the women at risk of dying in childbirth. WRA Uganda aims to inspire and convene advocates who campaign to uphold the right of all women to be safe and healthy before, during and after childbirth. The organization focuses on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) – helping citizens to recognize their rights and hold the government to account for commitments made to improve maternal and newborn health. With 13 regional committees across the country, WRA Uganda champions include Uganda’s First Lady, Honorable Janet Museveni (the official patron of WRA Uganda) and fifteen current and former Members of Parliament. Though an independent organization with a dedicated staff managed by a member-elected Board, WRA Uganda follows the Global Secretariat’s overarching theory of change to address the safe motherhood issues specific to Uganda. Staff listen to local communities and civil society leaders who lead the demand for change, advocate at each level of government, and then work to safeguard the promises made by the government. This approach enables civil society to see their efforts come full circle. WRA members call this creating a ‘feedback loop’ because the advocacy includes working at all levels (e.g., district, national, global) and ensuring that citizens are not only involved at every level but are always aware of the impact their voices have made. WRA has an organizational culture rooted in a bottom up approach to solving problems. Rather than waiting for a time when the appropriate government official makes a necessary top down decision, WRA Uganda builds civil society’s capacity to demand changes that save the lives of women and their babies.
White Ribbon Alliance Tanzania
More than 24 women and 144 newborns die each day in Tanzania due to labor complications and lack of quality care. Many of these deaths can be prevented with adequate investment in Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC).
In 2008, the Government of Tanzania committed to ensuring that 50% of health centers provide CEmONC by 2015. However, the government has failed to operationalize this commitment and has made insufficient progress in improving maternal and newborn health.
CAMPAIGN
After speaking with community members, health workers, health facility leaders and district, regional, and national officials, WRA Tanzania identified three major barriers impeding the delivery of the government’s commitment:
- A lack of reliable baseline information on the availability of CEmONC at all levels;
- Lack of plans and budget allocated to operationalizing the commitment at the regional and district levels;
- Weak social accountability, with citizens unaware of commitments and lacking opportunities to engage in planning and monitoring.
RECENT SUCCESS
WRA Tanzania's successful campaign led to the Tanzanian government's 52.6% increase in the budget for
maternal and newborn health from the previous year for FY2017/2018 budget. This historic increase specifically targeted areas vital to the survival of women and their newborns during pregnancy and childbirth, including the
availability of oxytocin, magnesium sulphate, and safe blood services including blood banks and satellite locations for blood donation.
White Ribbon Alliance India
WRA India was launched in 1999 when the Center for Catalyzing Change (formerly known as CEDPA), brought together a group of individuals and organizations to advocate for safe motherhood in India. Our vision is a country where the right of all women to be safe and healthy before, during and after childbirth is upheld. Our mission is to inspire and convene advocates who uphold the right of all women to be safe and healthy before, during and after childbirth. WRA India is a movement of individuals, organizations and communities that builds alliances, strengthens capacity, influences policies, harnesses resources, inspires volunteerism and motivates action to protect the lives of women and newborns throughout India.
White Ribbon Alliance Kenya
In Kenya, 8,000 women and 40,000 newborns die before, during or after pregnancy every year. Combined with an overall teen pregnancy rate of 18% – with some regions of the country reporting as high as 40% — Kenya is in a reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health crisis.
By building the capacity of citizens, including adolescents and youth, to understand their health rights, then facilitating meaningful engagement with the government, we can ensure that the most important challenges and solutions are identified and that quality reproductive, maternal newborn and adolescent health services and policies are in place.
WRA Kenya was founded in 2009 to ensure that all Kenyan women realize their rights to a safe pregnancy and childbirth. We help citizens recognize their rights and hold the government accountable for commitments made to maternal and child health.
White Ribbon Alliance Pakistan
WRA Pakistan formed in 2006 to influence government and advance improvements in maternal and newborn health. WRA Pakistan envisions that by 2020, all women, men and communities have knowledge about safe motherhood; all women have easy and timely access to emergency obstetric care; and each birth is attended by a skilled attendant. Our mission is to promote an enabling environment for safe motherhood in Pakistan.
White Ribbon Alliance Nepal
WRA Nepal, locally known as the Safe Motherhood Network Federation Nepal (SMNF), has been a leader in reproductive, maternal and newborn health and rights for decades. By providing information on safe abortion services to communities, training health providers on the importance of respectful maternity care, and building and equipping birthing centers, WRA Nepal is making sure that the right to safe motherhood is upheld for all women in Nepal.
White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria
WRA Nigeria was formed in 2009 to give a voice to the women most at risk of dying in childbirth. Our mission is to activate a people-led movement for reproductive, maternal and newborn health. Driven by a deep passion and commitment, we empower citizens to recognize their rights to health and hold elected leadership and government accountable for commitments made to maternal and newborn health.
Where we work
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Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
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Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Acting on the self-articulated needs of women and girls, WRA works to mobilize and amplify diverse voices to create demand and accelerate progress for reproductive, maternal, and newborn health in countries around the world. WRA focuses on influencing policies, mobilizing resources (e.g., financial, human), and strengthening accountability mechanisms (e.g., multi-stakeholder platforms, tools such as dashboards and scorecards) through coordinated and comprehensive advocacy campaigns at global, national, and sub-national levels. Their unique approach includes connecting community champions with national decision-makers and global agendas to advance changes that respond to the local population’s experiences and needs. Our advocacy campaigns cost just a fraction of the long-term investments that they result in, ultimately becoming a permanent part of the health system.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The White Ribbon Alliance (WRA) movement is comprised of 12 autonomous National Alliances primarily in sub-Sahara Africa and South Asia with a national secretariat and members including professional associations, government entities, donors, academic and training institutions, local organizations, youth, and other community members. They, along with campaign partners and informal networks in other countries, are connected through a global secretariat.WRA's National Alliances are unique partnerships made up of citizens, health workers, policymakers, community-based organizations, and others who best understand their country's challenges and the most viable solutions. This puts them in the best position to demand – and get – vital improvements for the full spectrum of maternal and newborn healthcare and health outcomes. WRA's work addresses cross-cutting issues such as teen pregnancy, family planning, self-care, respectful maternity care, health education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and other areas across the full spectrum of maternal and newborn health.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In addition to advancing national-level impact, WRA’s 2019 flagship What Women Want campaign collected responses from 1.2 million women and girls from 114 countries about their reproductive and maternal healthcare needs. Over the past year, findings from the campaign have been cited as the impetus for maintaining and adapting essential RMNCH services amidst the pandemic, including several major policy changes and related resourcing. While WRA has made significant strides in working towards women and girls realizing their right to quality health and well-being
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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White Ribbon Alliance INC
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Steve Crom
CEO & Partner, Valeocon Management Consulting
Term: 2012 - 2022
Ronald Geary
Jhpiego
Lynn Altman
Brand Now
Timothy Thomas
Yasmina Zaidman
Acumen
Betsy McCallon
White Ribbon Alliance
Nora Connors
Public Health Institute (PHI)
Mariam Claeson
World Health Organization
Jane Griffiths
Johnson and Johnson
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
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