This week will be starting the largest global event of the decade to focus on the health and empowerment of girls and women. The Women Deliver 2013 conference is the most important date in the international population and development calendar. With the 2015 Millennium Development Goal deadline rapidly approaching, the time is now to deliver for girls and women. Women Deliver 2013 will serve as a global platform for ensuring that the health and rights of girls and women remain top priorities now, and for decades to come (wd2013.org).

On May 31, 2013, at Kuala Lumpur, following the end of the Women Deliver Conference, the Countdown initiative will organize the workshop Country Countdown Orientation at Women Deliver with the aim to ensure that in-country teams are equipped with the skills required to carry out the requisite analyses and dissemination activities.  During this workshop Dr. Aluísio Barros and Cesar Victora from the International Center for Equity in Health - Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil will talk about “Trends in Equity for Contraception, Pregnancy and Delivery care”.