10.23.2007 - 11:30am ET

(CSRwire) LONG BEACH, CA - October 23, 2007 - The California Governor and First Lady's Conference on Women - also known as 'The Women's Conference' - and Meredith Corporation have announced a new partnership - WE Care. The initiative will support the international humanitarian organization CARE's work to save the lives of thousands of pregnant women in Africa and Latin America. WE Care will encourage the women of California to join the movement to empower women in the developing world to overcome extreme poverty while providing needed funds to fight maternal-to-child-transmission of HIV in Zambia and train midwives in Nicaragua to assist with safe delivery.

"We are thrilled to be forging this partnership with CARE and Meredith Corporation to empower California women to help improve maternal health in the developing countries of Zambia and Nicaragua," said California First Lady Maria Shriver. "The Women's Conference has always sponsored initiatives that support underserved women and families throughout California, and the WE Care program is an incredible opportunity to extend the conference's reach to women around the world who are struggling against poverty."

Around the world, one woman dies every minute of every day - half a million deaths each year - due to childbirth and pregnancy-related complications. The vast majority of these deaths are preventable and 99 percent of them are in developing countries. Malnutrition, hemorrhage and lack of access to emergency interventions are some of the major causes of death during pregnancy and childbirth, which are in turn caused by extreme poverty. As many as three billion people in the developing world live on less than $2 per day; and two-thirds of the poorest people in the world are women.

"WE Care is helping make giving birth a day for joy rather than tragedy for thousands of women around the world," said Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE. "The support of the Women's Conference and Meredith is invaluable in encouraging the women of California to get involved in a global movement to ensure safe motherhood for all."

In Zambia, WE Care will enable hundreds of community-based traditional birth attendants to be trained to provide HIV counseling and testing to help prevent mother-to-child transmission of the disease. As many as 90 percent of children worldwide under age 15 who are living with HIV received the virus in the womb, during childbirth or through breast-feeding. However, early interventions can reduce that risk by as much as 50 percent.

In Nicaragua, WE Care will help reduce what is among the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the Western Hemisphere. In rural areas, 70 percent of the population lives in poverty. In the remote Matagalpa region, chronic childhood malnutrition affects up to 30 percent of children. In addition, the number of women who die in pregnancy and children who do not survive past their first birthdays is even higher than the rest of the country. WE Care will encourage mothers to use traditional birth attendants to assist with deliveries in remote rural areas while providing local midwives with better training to ensure safe deliveries. In addition, the program will offer an emergency transportation network that can bring women suffering from emergencies to health centers to ensure life-saving interventions.

"At Meredith, through our various media properties, we inspire over 75 million women across the nation to make things happen in their life and in the lives of those around them," says Nancy Weber, Chief Marketing Officer, Meredith. "We believe that the women who are at the heart of CARE's efforts have the power to make a significant difference in the lives of their communities." Meredith is serving as a national media partner for this year’s Women’s Conference.

Contributions to WE Care will be supplemented with additional donations made by thousands of California women at The Women's Conference 2007 held in Long Beach today. In addition, as part of her "I Am Powerful" Challenge, Sheila C. Johnson, the CEO of Salamander Hospitality, President of the WNBA Washington Mystics and CARE Global Ambassador will match, dollar for dollar, every donation made on the day of the conference to support CARE’s work worldwide, effectively doubling the impact of individual contributions to CARE's important work.

About CARE: CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Last year, CARE programs improved the lives of more than 45 million people in 66 countries. Recognizing that women suffer disproportionately from poverty, CARE places special emphasis on working with women to create permanent social change. Women are at the heart of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps people rebuild their lives. For more information, please visit www.care.org.

About The Women's Conference: The Women's Conference is the largest and most dynamic one-day gathering of women in the nation. Recognized for its unparalleled capacity to inspire and empower women to become architects of change, the annual conference unites more than sixty leaders with 14,000 women in one arena, plus thousands more virtually, to share enriching stories of transformation and success, words of encouragement and life lessons. Under the leadership of California First Lady Maria Shriver, the non-profit, non-partisan women's conference has grown from a California government initiative for working professionals into a life-changing experience and national network of women from all walks of life, backgrounds and perspectives. Its thriving online community and year-round programs make The Women's Conference an ongoing source of support, inspiration and motivation for the tens of thousands it has touched. For more information on The Women's Conference, please go to www.californiawomen.org.

About Meredith Corporation: Meredith (www.meredith.com) is one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 25 subscription magazines - including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies’ Home Journal, Parents, Fitness, American Baby, and ReadyMade - and approximately 200 special interest publications. Meredith owns 14 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland. Meredith has approximately 350 books in print and has established marketing relationships with some of America's leading companies including The Home Depot, DIRECTV, DaimlerChrysler, Wal-Mart and Carnival Cruise Lines. Meredith's consumer database, which contains more than 85 million names, is one of the largest domestic databases among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to target marketing campaigns precisely. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive Internet presence that includes 32 Web sites and strategic alliances with leading Internet destinations. Meredith Hispanic Ventures publishes five Spanish-language titles, making Meredith the largest Hispanic publisher in the United States reaching women at every life stage. The Family Circle Cup, America's premier women's professional tennis tournament - owned and operated by Meredith, is held every April in Charleston, South Carolina and has for over three decades continued to showcase the best in women's tennis.

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