Lagos, Nigeria, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and New York; March 1, 2018—Speak Up Africa New York, a leading not-for-profit advocacy organization focused on universal access to healthcare and education for the world’s most vulnerable families, today announced its organization’s new name, The Access Challenge, and its first initiative, One By One: Target 2030.

The name change reflects the group’s mission to ensure that every person —wherever in the world he or she may be—has access to basic tools and services in order to survive and thrive. Speak Up Africa New York focused its efforts on Africa. The Access Challenge will continue this Africa-based work while expanding to other regions with a focus on high-level policy engagement.

In keeping with this new focus, The Access Challenge today launched a new campaign, One By One: Target 2030, in partnership with His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, former president of Tanzania and a world-renowned maternal and child health advocate. One By One: Target 2030 will promote universal health access in Africa, focusing first on immunizations, maternal health and Neglected Tropical Diseases, ensuring that even the poorest families have access to critical health interventions. 

President Kikwete and The Access Challenge have launched the campaign in support of the World Health Organization’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ call for Universal Health Coverage. President Kikwete is committed to making Universal Health Access a reality on the continent of Africa.  

President Kikwete said, “Ensuring equal access to health – especially for the most vulnerable – is an issue very close to my heart. As I travel from country to country across Africa, I will work with the African Union and heads of state that have the power to put these issues at the top of the agenda.” 

“We are eager to begin our initiative with President Kikwete. Over the past six years, we have driven awareness of critical health issues on national and global levels,” said Kate Campana, founder and CEO of The Access Challenge. “With Dr. Tedros’ mandate, we think that more leaders and more countries will be inspired to step up and effect real change. By broadening our geographic reach, we hope to reach even more of the world’s most vulnerable and provide a leadership platform that expands to South-South collaborative learning.”

The Access Challenge, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, inspired by a vision of a world where every person has an equal ability to survive and thrive regardless of where she or he is born, advocates for universal access to health and education. It works with heads of state and other public officials to understand and focus on particular issues; partners with cultural luminaries to bring key issues to the attention of government and corporate leaders who can galvanize support; produces high-profile public events that shine a spotlight on governmental commitments and hold leaders accountable; and launches powerful multimedia campaigns to raise broad awareness and change cultural expectations about critical access issues. Visit www.accesschallenge.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn to learn more. 

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Media Contact:
Jill Blaustein
The Access Challenge
jill.blaustein@accesschallenge.org
917-971-9448