When the average person hears Muskoka, they might think, is that some kind of animal or mythical creature, perhaps?

When the average Canadian hears it, they probably think of jumping in a lake and BBQing at their friend’s cottage (or if they are super lucky, their cottage!).

But, what if I told you that Muskoka means so much more!

I’m indeed going to tell you that. The Muskoka Initiative on Child, Maternal and Newborn Health is a funding initiative that Canada came up with. It was announced at the 2010 G8 Summit that Canada hosted in Muskoka (see where the name came from?).

The Muskoka Initiative intended to increase spending and attention to improving maternal health and reducing newborn and child mortality. At that time (2008), these areas were two of the worst performing Millennium Development Goals that were established to guide international development in 2000.

Between 2010 and 2015, The Muskoka Initiative led to over $7.3 billion CAD in funding commitments towards improving life for moms and kids all over the world.

In 2014, Canada hosted the Saving Every Woman and Every Child Within Arm’s Reach Summit (bit of a mouthful, but their hearts are in the right place) and pledged $3.5 billion CAD towards Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) in order to encourage new funding commitments to sustain programs from 2015 through 2020.

Canada’s funding towards the Muskoka Initiative has helped strengthen health systems across Africa, provided free prenatal care in Haiti and has increased training for birth attendants as well as increased vital resources for healthy births in Bangladesh.

So basically, Muskoka is yet another awesome thing that Canada brought to the world (along with maple syrup and being super polite).

But more needs to be done to continue addressing the health concerns that face women and children.

One area that Muskoka doesn’t address, which is really important to improving women’s health and giving them control of their lives is adequate family planning.

This can be changed and it can be changed by you. Join the community that helps make change both in Canada and around the world.

Join Global Citizen.

For more information about maternal and child health, click here. To learn more about the Muskoka Initiative, click here.