Biography
Lynn P. Freedman, JD, MPH, currently directs the Mailman School's Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) Program, a global program of research, policy analysis, and technical support that, since 1999, has worked with UN agencies, NGOs, and governments in more than 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America to reduce maternal mortality. Before joining the faculty at Columbia University in 1990, Professor Freedman worked as a practicing attorney in New York City. Professor Freedman has published widely on issues of maternal mortality and on health and human rights, with a particular focus on gender and women's health. She also serves on the advisory boards of maternal health projects and human rights projects with programs in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
Topics
Education
Mailman Affiliations
Other Affiliations
Member, APHA
Member, New York State Bar Association
Member, Association for Women's Rights in Development
Member, American Society of International Law
Areas of Expertise
Select Global Activities
Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) Program: In February 2005, Prof. Freedman became director of AMDD, which works in over 50 countries to reduce maternal mortality by increasing access to and utilization of emergency obstetric care. Before that, Prof. Freedman was part part of the core management team of AMDD and led the program's efforts to integrate a human rights perspective into the program's strategies and implementation efforts.
UN Millennium Project Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health: The Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health was one of 10 Task Forces of the UN Millennium Project established by the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide a road map for countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Since the Task Force's creation in 2002, Prof. Freedman has served as senior advisor and was lead author of the Task Force's Final Report "Who's Got the Power: Transforming Health Systems for Women and Children, which focus on the importance of developing health systems.
Law and Policy Project: The Law and Policy Project works with NGO networks, human rights organizations, and women's health organizations in the US and internationally, to address the legal and policy dimensions of health, with a particular emphasis on women's reproductive health.
Select Publications
Freedman, L, Achieving the MDGs: Health Systems as core social institutions Development 48(1) 19-24 2005
Freedman L, Waldman R, de Pinho H, Worth M, Chowdhury AMR, Rosenfield A, "Who's Got the Power: Transforming Health Systems for Women and Children" UN Millennium Project Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health New York, NY
Freedman L Strategic advocacy and maternal mortality: moving targets and the Millennium Development Goals Gender and Development 11(1) 97-108 2003
Freedman L Shifting visions: "delegation" policies and the building of a "rights-bsed" aproach to maternal mortality Journal of the American Medical Women's Association 57(3) 154-158 2002
Freedman L Using human rights in maternal mortality programs: from analysis to strategy International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 75 51-60 2001
Marlene Goldman and Maureen Hatch Women and Health Academic Press New York 428-438 2000
Freedman L Human rights and the politics of risk and blame: lessons from the international reproductive health movement Journal of the American Medical Women's Association 52 165-168 1997
Freedman L The challenge of fundamentalism Reproductive Health Matters 8 55-69 1996
Freedman L Reflections on emerging frameworks of health and human rights Health and Human Rights 1(4) 315-348 1995
Article 19, The Right to Know: Human Rights and Access to Reproductive Health Information University of Pensylvannia Press Philadelphia 1995