MDGFive.com

MDGFive.com draws on social media to increase community engagement in the fight to improve maternal health and reach MDG #5 by 2015. Creative content (30- to 60-second clips of music, film/video, spoken word clips of poetry, etc.) submitted by participating artists from around the world are made available for users of MDGFive.com to "mash up" to create personalised public service announcements (PSAs) on maternal health. (From Wikipedia: Mashup is "[d]igital media content containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video and animation drawn from pre-existing sources, to create a new derivative work"). Its signature element is the "Remixer", with Flash®-based technology that enables users to edit video online and add audio, transitions, and special effects to create video remixes that can then be published to a custom online community where users can view and share favourites. This is designed not only to engage users in the creative process of maternal health messaging, but also to provide a platform for artists at the local level to contribute their voices to the movement to improve maternal health. "With the maternal health movement having such global momentum, it was important for us from the beginning to ensure this was not only a Western initiative - that people at the local level would be involved in our project," says Lisa Russell. "By working collaboratively with professional artists from around the world - who have tremendous influence in their respective societies and are eager to lend their work - we feel it will engage a local/global dialogue in this new media environment."

MDGFive.com is an advocacy initiative; the PSAs created at MDGFive.com will be used to advocate for more attention and resources to ensure women and girls get access to proper emergency obstetric care and family planning services. In addition, MDGFive.com had its beta-launch at the June 2010 Women Deliver conference, which organisers describe as a high-profile gathering of UN personnel, celebrities, and maternal health pioneers. Lisa Russell introduced this version of MDGFive.com at the Youth Preconference gathering, where 100 youth fellows from around the world composed the first round of mash-ups, with several then screened at the conference's Cinema Corner. The next day, both MDGFive.com founders co-presented the concept of the website at the Women Deliver Speaker's Corner. Then, MDGFive.com had its official launch in September 2010 to coincide with the MDG Summit meeting. The kick-off featured artists performing and the announcement of a global video PSA contest - the winning "Call to Action" mash-up will be featured on MDGFive.com, and all participants are encouraged to share their videos with their social networks.

Maternal Health.

According to organisers, an estimated 500,000 women die each year from pregnancy or childbearing complications. Six countries account for more than half of all maternal deaths: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Congo. Of the 8 MDGs, organisers say that MDG #5 is most lagging in progress toward the 2015 deadline.