Every day we hear about the dangers of cancer, heart disease and AIDS. But how many of us realize that, in much of the world, the act of giving life to a child is still the biggest killer of women of child-bearing age?
When our mothers are alive and healthy, they do extraordinary things... like the mothers of Plaza de Mayo, who marched in Argentinean plazas, defying the military junta dictatorship and demanding the whereabouts of their abducted children... or the Liberian mothers who faced down civil war armed only with T-shirts and courage.
I want to spend as much time as possible with my children, so I always like to keep my beauty and fashion routines effortless... but still chic!
When a woman has her first child in places like Africa, they're really young. They can be 12, 13,14, so their frames are really small, and they're usually malnourished.
Miriam Were has made outstanding contributions to public health in the developing world. She brings basic medical services to women and children in East Africa.
Children with healthy mothers are much more likely to survive childhood, attend school and live healthy, productive lives.
I grew up watching films. Film has been part of my life since I was a child.
The message of our campaign is "Make every mother and child count". This campaign is not just about health. It is also a powerful call for radical progress in women's rights and the rights of their children. Too often, the health of mothers and children does not count. In too many parts of the world, they are forgotten.
My children are still young, but I try to talk to them about giving back and how important it is, just to look at the world, be invested in things, to be passionate about things, to have a dream.
