Amnesty International Activates Maternal Death Clock in NYC's Times Square 9/20

For three days beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 20, a digital billboard clock above Times Square will count the death of one woman every minute during childbirth to highlight the tragic cost of poverty worldwide. Amnesty International's Secretary General Salil Shetty will launch the "Maternal Death Clock" as world leaders gather at the United Nations for three days to review progress on reducing poverty worldwide.

Shetty, an expert on poverty and human rights, will be joined by Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, and dozens of activists as the clock on MTV's billboard over Broadway (east side of Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets) activates and begins counting deaths at the start of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals Summit six blocks away in Manhattan. The clock will run through the three-day summit.

During the three-day summit, based on the U.N. estimate that one woman dies every minute during childbirth, an online clock will tally nearly 3,700 deaths. Please visit: http://www.amnestyusa.org/maternaldeaths to view the clock and sign a petition on the MDGs.

Shetty and Cox will be available for media interviews at 9-9:30 a.m. during the launch of the clock. Interviews also may be arranged later in the day or at any time during the summit by contacting Amnesty International USA Media Relations Director Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150.

Activists wearing bright yellow "Every Minute A Woman Dies Giving Birth" T-shirts will circulate on Broadway, inviting passersby to sign a petition to be presented to MDG Summit leaders demanding an expanded commitment to preventing deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.

WHAT: Launch of Maternal Death Clock by Amnesty International

WHEN: 9-9:30 a.m., Monday, Sept. 20

WHERE: NYC's Times Square (Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets)

WHY: To demonstrate the tragic cost of poverty during the U.N. Millennium Development Goals Summit

Salil Shetty

Salil Shetty is leading Amnesty International's delegation to the U.N.'s MDG Summit and will be calling on governments to commit to upholding the human rights of the world's poorest people.

Prior to joining Amnesty International, Salil Shetty was the Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign from 2003 to 2010. Under his leadership the Millennium Campaign grew into a powerful global campaigning force, supporting citizens in their efforts to hold governments to account for the achievement of the MDGs.