ABC NEWS AND THE UN FOUNDATION TO LAUNCH THE "MILLION MOMS CHALLENGE"

Johnson & Johnson, BabyCenter and NGO Partners Join First-of-its-Kind Campaign To Engage Millions of Americans with Millions of Moms in Developing Countries

Today ABC News and the UN Foundation launch an initiative engaging millions of Americans to support millions of moms across the globe around the critical issues of pregnancy, childbirth and children's health -- moms here helping moms worldwide.

The Million Moms Challenge will be featured on weekly segments on ABC News' broadcasts including "Good Morning America," "World News with Diane Sawyer," "Nightline" and "20/20," as well as other ABC News platforms, including ABCNews.com and ABC News Radio. ABC News Chief Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser, "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts, "ABC World News" weekend anchor David Muir, "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden, "This Week" anchor Christiane Amanpour and Juju Chang will be among those contributing reports. The initiative will lead up to an hour-long edition of "20/20" on maternal health anchored by Diane Sawyer on December 16, 2011 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET).

"There is so much we can do together - so many simple ways for us all to link arms to make sure every mother and child has a chance to lead a healthy life," said ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer.

Using the latest in social media strategies together with the broadcast and digital news platforms of ABC News, this initiative will build a vibrant community that connects moms everywhere around things all mothers care about: the right nutrition to support their pregnancies, trained midwives to assist in safe deliveries of newborns, and vaccines that allow children to survive to celebrate their first birthdays and beyond.

Through broadcasts focusing on personal stories and innovative solutions from around the world, the Million Moms Challenge will raise awareness about the extraordinary challenges faced by mothers and babies in the developing world:

·Every 90 seconds a woman dies during pregnancy or childbirth, yet we have the knowledge to prevent 90% of all maternal deaths.

·More than 50 million women give birth without a skilled birth attendant every year.

·Up to 1.5 million newborns die within the first 24 hours of life, and an additional 1 million babies are stillborn, almost all of whom could be saved with better care at birth. Every 20 seconds, a child dies of a vaccine-preventable disease.

As part of the initiative, a dedicated website (www.millionmomschallenge.com) will provide a live, interactive forum for some of the nation's top mom bloggers to share their stories and ideas through blogs and video posts in real time with moms and midwives in the developing world. Viewers who want to know more and get involved will find ways large and small to make a meaningful impact through simple, inexpensive interventions that make a real difference for mothers and children around the world.

The Million Moms Challenge is asking a million Americans to join the movement by signing up on the Challenge's website or on Facebook.

"You don't have to be a mom to help a mom," said Kathy Calvin, CEO of the UN Foundation. "A healthier tomorrow for our world starts with healthy moms and babies today. The Million Moms Challenge gives us the chance to make history by sharing stories, ideas and sparking a global conversation that will help the United Nations build a global partnership for healthy lives," she added.

The Million Moms Challenge is a joint effort of ABC News and the UN Foundation, in conjunction with corporate partners Johnson & Johnson and Baby Center. BabyCenter is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. BabyCenter will encourage its 25 million moms in the United States and overseas to join the Million Moms Challenge. In recognition of the first 100,000 people who sign on to the Million Moms Challenge, Johnson & Johnson will donate $100,000 to several of the biggest NGOs helping moms and babies throughout the world.

The Million Moms Challenge partners include some of the world's most respected NGOs, including African Medical and Research Foundation, CARE, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, GAVI Alliance, mothers2mothers, ONE, Partners in Health, Riders for Health, Save the Children, UN Foundation's Shot@LifeTM campaign, US Fund for UNICEF, White Ribbon Alliance, and WorldVision.

The Million Moms Challenge is part of the year-long global health series "Be the Change: Save a Life," which is sponsored in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more information about the Million Moms Challenge visit millionmomschallenge.com. To get involved in the conversation about healthy moms and babies around the world, follow @AMillionMoms on Twitter and use the hash-tag #MillionMoms. You can also like Million Moms on Facebook at facebook.com/millionmomschallenge.

About ABC News

ABC News is responsible for all of the ABC Television Network's news programming on a variety of platforms: television, radio and the Internet. Its flagship program is "World News with Diane Sawyer" with other programs including "Good Morning America," "Nightline," "Primetime," "20/20," and the Sunday morning political affairs program "This Week with Christiane Amanpour." With an average television and radio audience of 180 million people in a given month, ABC News surpasses the competition. More than 2,400 affiliate stations broadcast ABC News Radio's global news coverage. In addition, ABC News NOW is a 24-hour news and information network currently available to 44 million users across cable, broadband, and mobile platforms. NewsOne, the affiliate news service of ABC News, provides live and packaged news, sports, and weather reports, as well as footage of news events, to 200 ABC affiliates and more than 30 domestic and international clients. Visit www.abcnews.com.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner's historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public/private partnerships to address the world's most pressing problems, and works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach. Through campaigns and partnerships, the organization connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The campaigns reduce child mortality, empower women and girls, create a new energy future, secure peace and human rights, and promote technology innovation to improve health outcomes. These solutions are helping the UN advance the eight global targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.