Young child survival and development
Newsline
Mia Farrow travels to CAR to support the fight against polio
BANGUI, Central African Republic , 17 May 2008 – Actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow has travelled to the Central African Republic (CAR) for a week-long visit to highlight the plight of thousands of women and children who desperately need the world’s attention.
On World Malaria Day, new goals for prevention and treatment announced
NEW YORK, USA, 25 April 2008 – A bold initiative announced today by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon brings together the many forces fighting malaria to focus on one goal: providing universal coverage of malaria-control measures in Africa, where 90 per cent of malaria cases occur, by the end of 2010.
‘Rethinking Poverty’ conference cites risks to children posed by rising global insecurity
NEW YORK, USA, 22 April 2008 – Participants in an international conference here have been told that global uncertainty and an increase in terrorism and violence will lead to an increase in the number of people – including children – living in poverty.
Countdown to 2015: MPs join call to boost maternal and child survival
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 18 April 2008 – ‘Countdown to 2015’, a report on maternal, newborn and child survival, was released at the 118th annual Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly in Cape Town this week, followed by a three-day conference where over 500 participating global health experts and Members of Parliament were urged to accelerate efforts to reach Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 on child and maternal survival.
Parliamentarians lead change for mothers and children
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, 18 April 2008 – Parliamentarians from all over the world showed their support this week as more than 200 Members of Parliament gathered in Cape Town for the 118th assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and a joint UNICEF-IPU panel on maternal, newborn and child health.
Countdown to 2015: Empowering Nepalese health workers to save the youngest lives
ACHHAM, Nepal, 15 April 2008 – Mathura Shahi, 30, presses the timer button and counts the breath intake of Sajjana, a month-old baby snuggling in her grandfather's arms.
Countdown to 2015: Health centre in Senegal works to reduce child mortality
MOUNTING HAMADY, Senegal, 10 April 2008 – Bintou Sabaly, 21, has given birth to three healthy children in the remote Senegalese village of Mounting Hamady, where no one has access to running water or electricity.
UNICEF promotes safe sanitation for World Water Day 2008
NEW YORK, USA, 19 March 2008 – On World Water Day tomorrow, as on every other day, some 2.5 billion people will be ‘doing their business’ somewhere other than in a toilet or latrine. That is not a statistic many people want to examine too closely, but it is crucial data for efforts to reduce child mortality.
UNICEF flagship report says community health programmes are key to reducing child mortality
NEW YORK, 22 January 2008 – Fatma, 2, is one of the thousands of Kenyan children whose lives have been saved by a cheap and simple preventive health measure.
Child-survival campaign reaches families displaced by conflict in Mogadishu
AFGOYE, Somalia, 18 December 2007 – Hawa Ali, a mother of two, fled fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu last month and found refuge in the makeshift Eelasha Biyasha settlement here. This camp and others like it, along a 30-km stretch between Mogadishu and Afgoye, are now home to some 200,000 children, women and men displaced by conflict.
UNICEF Kenya brings children’s issues to election campaign platform
NAIROBI, Kenya, 17 December 2007 – Four hundred children, their teachers and UNICEF staff members brought a section of Kenya’s capital to a standstill as they marched through the streets with music and banners proclaiming their arrival.
‘Miracle women’ help combat under-five mortality in Nepal
KAVRE, Nepal, 6 December 2007 – Nanda Kumari trudges through hillsides blanketed with the colours of ripening maize, trying to steer clear of buffalo as she passes along a narrow trail.
Zimbabwe’s Child Health Days help to reduce measles and boost child survival
MUPANDAWANA, Zimbabwe, 29 November 2007 – One can still see the legacy of polio in the limping walks of a handful of villagers in Mupandawana, a small community with a population of just 300.
UNICEF Executive Director ends first visit to Sudan with sense of optimism
KHARTOUM, Sudan, 5 November 2007 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman wrapped up her first visit to Sudan yesterday, expressing optimism at progress she had witnessed for women and children, while noting more efforts were needed, especially in tackling high rates of child and maternal mortality.
Neige’s story: Recovering from malnutrition in the Central African Republic
BOSSANGOA, Central African Republic, 25 October 2007 – Neige giggles shyly and hides behind her grandmother’s shawl. Just three years old, she lives with 11 other family members in a tiny home on the banks of the Ouham River in northern Central African Republic (CAR).
Mobile health workers deliver essential services to Brazilian families
FORTIM, Brazil, 1 October 2007 – Health agent Maria Dos Santos travels on foot, visiting as many as 20 homes a day and treating everything from diabetes to heart disease, as well as offering a host of services to pregnant women and new mothers.
Leaders at Clinton Global Initiative renew commitments to health and education
NEW YORK, USA, 26 September 2007 – A $30 million pledge to help educate children affected by conflict, especially in Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and a pledge of $1 billion to help improve maternal and child health worldwide were announced at the Clinton Global Initiative today.
Community volunteers help avert potential health crises before they happen
MADAROUNFA, Niger, 25 September 2007 – When Mourja Abou’s 10-month-old son Nouhou fell ill two months ago, the mother of six knew exactly what to do. She used sugar, salt and clean water to prepare an oral rehydration solution for her son. She then continued to breastfeed him and added solid foods as he began to feel better.
In a child survival milestone, under-five deaths fall below 10 million per year
NEW YORK, USA, 13 September 2007 – The world has reached an important milestone on child survival. For the first time in modern history, the number of children dying before the age of five has fallen below 10 million.
In Zimbabwe, Child Health Days focus on polio immunization
HARARE, Zimbabwe, 28 June 2007 – On cue, the mothers clutch their babies and fall in with military precision. Vaccine cold boxes are lined up in the shade alongside them. Within a few minutes, a classroom has been transformed into an outreach immunization point for Zimbabwe’s biannual Child Health Days campaign.
Kenya training session is a milestone for community-based newborn care in Africa
NAIROBI, Kenya, 26 June 2007 – Twenty-year-old Evelyn Katunge doesn’t know what killed her babies. In April 2005, with the help of birth attendants in her Majengo home, a sprawling slum near downtown Nairobi, she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Her joy, however, was cruelly shattered when her first baby died within hours, soon followed by her other baby.
Senegal’s Child Survival Days focus on malaria prevention
DOUNGA WORO ALPHA, Senegal, 22 June 2007 – In this remote village at the Mauritanian border near Matam, northeastern Senegal, the 2007 Child Survival Days campaign is being remembered as a resounding success.
Jordan’s Queen Rania issues UNICEF’s worldwide call to action to aid Iraqi children
NEW YORK, USA, 23 May 2007 – Women and children are often the ones who bear the greatest burden of the turbulence and violence that comes with conflict.
ECHO and UNICEF promote Plumpy’nut production to improve child nutrition in Niger
NIAMEY, Niger, 18 May 2007 – Two years after Niger’s severe nutrition crisis, the sight of undernourished children is less common than it was, but chronic malnutrition still affects more than 50 percent of the country's young children. And 10 per cent of Niger’s children suffer from acute malnutrition, even when the harvests are good.
Lawmakers inspired by field visit to UNICEF Indonesia projects
LOMBOK, Indonesia, 15 May 2007 – More than a dozen lawmakers from around the world took time out from the recent Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly held in Bali to take a firsthand look at UNICEF projects on neighbouring Lombok Island.
Providing basic services to Gabon’s ‘people of the forest’
ESSENG, Gabon, 9 May 2007 – On a beautiful recent morning in this remote village in northern Gabon, men sat in the ‘corps de garde’ in the town square and women stood nearby with apprehensive but happy children running around them.
Overcoming obstacles to child survival and gender equality in Kosovo
PRISTINA, Kosovo, 1 May 2007 – Despite the progress made during the post-conflict period since 1999, the UN Administered Province of Kosovo remains one of the poorest territories with one of the most vulnerable economies in Europe.
UNICEF Seal of Approval project launches second edition in Brazil’s semi-arid region
QUEBRANGULO, Brazil, 26 April 2007 – Today marks the launch of the second edition of the UNICEF Municipal Seal of Approval in the Semi-Arid, taking place in the 11 states of Brazil’s most impoverished region.
Global partners gather in Tanzania to discuss maternal, newborn and child health
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, 19 April 2007 – Political leaders, health professionals, researchers and activists are meeting here this week for the first-ever assembly of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Trio for Life: Birth registration, immunization and breastfeeding give children head start in Venezuela
MARACAIBO, Venezuela, 4 April 2007 – It was during the nationwide campaign called Trio for Life that eight-month-old Georgina first received her birth registration.
UNICEF and partners come together to help reduce maternal mortality in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan, 2 April 2007 – One in nine Afghan women dies during or shortly after pregnancy, accounting for one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Kabul’s Malalai Maternity Hospital, one of the busiest in Afghanistan delivering 80 to 100 babies a day, is working to ensure that more women live to see their children grow up.
Improving antenatal care for mothers and newborns in Iraq
AMMAN, Jordan, 30 January 2007 – For Nadtha, 21, her last few months of pregnancy were an anxious time. With one toddler demanding attention and another baby on the way, Nadtha was worried about how she would cope with the demands of her growing family. She wanted to be reassured that the delivery would go smoothly and that her baby would be healthy.
‘One-stop’ clinic helps new mothers keep their children healthy in Gambia
FAJIKUNDA, Gambia, 11 January 2007 – In September, Sarata Hydara gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the health clinic here in Fajikunda. In the first two weeks he grew nearly half a kilogram, which she learned when nurses weighed him.
Integrated centres provide healthy development for children in Iran
CHABAHAR, Iran, 10 January 2007 – Hessam, a nine-month-old baby, gurgles in appreciation of the soup that his mother is feeding him. So does Nazanin, 3, and other young children in the room.
Report finds nearly half of all children in Mozambique living in extreme poverty
NEW YORK, USA, 14 December 2006 – Almost half of Mozambique’s 10 million children are living in extreme poverty, according to ‘Childhood Poverty in Mozambique’, a United Nations report released today.
‘UNICEF Seal’ initiative saves and transforms children’s lives in Brazil’s semi-arid region
BRASILIA, Brazil, 6 December 2006 – UNICEF Brazil is awarding 146 municipalities in the country’s semi-arid region with the ‘Seal of Approved Municipality’, recognizing their achievements in improving the lives of children and adolescents over the past two years.
European governments and NGOs gauge progress toward ‘A World Fit for Children’
FLORENCE, Italy, 15 November 2006 – European governments who signed up to the ‘World Fit for Children’ agenda more than four years ago are being reminded to involve and consult with children if their pledge is to remain credible.
Tennis ace Serena Williams supports Ghana’s biggest health campaign
NUNGUA-ZONGO, Ghana, 6 November 2006 – For families across Ghana, yesterday was the day to get their young children immunized against deadly childhood diseases, boost their immunity against illness and receive free mosquito nets to help prevent malaria. It was the conclusion of the country’s week-long national integrated child health campaign, the largest such effort in Ghana to date.
Outpatient therapeutic feeding improves child nutrition in Ethiopia
SIDAMA ZONE, Ethiopia, 25 October 2006 – Fifteen-month-old Shurube Hatiso plays on her mother’s lap as they await the child’s weekly nutritional and medical check-up. It is provided by the non-governmental organization Action Contre la Faim (ACF) with the support of UNICEF and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department.
Measles immunization campaign targets 29 million Nigerian children
EKEREMOR, Nigeria, 18 October 2006 – Nigeria has launched a massive immunization campaign to protect 29 million children against measles, a highly contagious virus that kills more Nigerian children than any other preventable disease.
‘Social Monitor’ finds 18 million children in poverty in southeastern Europe and CIS
NEW YORK, USA, 18 October 2006 – Some 18 million children are still living in extreme poverty in the countries of southeastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States – most of them former Soviet bloc nations.
Millions ‘Stand Up against Poverty’ and support the Millennium Development Goals
NEW YORK, USA, 16 October 2006 – Millions of people around the world have joined together to ‘Stand Up against Poverty’ – an effort to remind governments that they must keep their promises to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and eradicate extreme poverty.
Breaking the cycle of child abandonment in Tbilisi, Georgia
TBILISI, Georgia, 13 October 2006 – Niko, 4, is proud of his twin brothers, David and Georgi – siblings he almost never had the chance to know. His mother, Maia, was thinking of abandoning her boys because she could not care for them. Fortunately, Maia found the support she needed at the Mother and Infants’ Shelter in Tbilisi.
World leaders accelerate action to reduce child deaths and meet 2015 target
NEW YORK, USA, 18 September 2006 – World leaders gathered in New York today to accelerate global efforts to save the lives of some 10.5 million children under the age of five who die needlessly every year.
Fight for survival: Saving undernourished children in Niger
MAYAHI, Niger, 18 September 2006 – Seven-month-old Ramanatou has travelled nine km with her mother to the Mayahi District Hospital in Maradi. She is suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and a high fever. Unable even to digest her mother’s breast milk, Ramanatou is severely malnourished.
Women health volunteers save children’s lives in Nepal
NEW YORK, USA, 15 September 2006 – Ganga Thapa has been a volunteer health worker for 16 years. She’s part of a growing network of women, supported by UNICEF, who bring essential care and medicines to children and mothers in remote Nepalese communities.
Health insurance for children and mothers slows child mortality in Bolivia
NEW YORK, USA, 14 September 2006 – An estimated 2.5 million children in Bolivia live in poverty. It lies at the root of the sickness and malnutrition that cause the vast majority of deaths among children under five. Many live miles from the nearest health services and can’t afford the cost of care.
Preventing malaria and improving child survival in Madagascar
ANKAZOMENAVONY, Madagascar, 11 September 2006 – Angeline, 9, lives in this small village, home to just a few dozen families in northwestern Madagascar.
Sierra Leone targets child and maternal mortality
BOMBALI DISTRICT, Sierra Leone, 11 July 2006 – Sinnah Kamara is a young mother in Binkolo, located in northern Sierra Leone’s Bombali district. Although she has two healthy children, she knows how fragile the survival chances of children are in her country.
Both treatment and education fight child malnutrition in Comoros
ANJOUAN ISLAND, Comoros, 11 July 2006 – “Lack of knowledge is one of the most important reasons for malnutrition in Comoros,” says the head of the Domoni Therapeutic Nutrition Centre, Maissara Chaharmane.
Peru community project promotes healthy development of Andean children
NEW YORK, USA, 29 June 2006 – The people from the Huama community in the Peruvian Andes know exactly what they want.
International conference calls on the world community to save 30 million young lives over next decade
NEW YORK, USA, 13 December 2005 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman is attending an international conference in London challenging the world to seize an unprecedented opportunity to save 30 million young lives. ‘Tracking Progress in Child Survival: Countdown to 2015’ is an international initiative calling for donors and governments to live up to their commitment to reduce child mortality by two thirds in the decade ahead.
New global Partnership seeks major reductions in maternal and child deaths
NEW YORK, 12 September 2005 – UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman today welcomed leading advocates for women and children to UNICEF’s global headquarters for the launch of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Despite strong economy, poverty and poor healthcare are still challenges
NEW YORK, 27 July 2005 – Half a billion people in South Asia are living in poverty and suffering from the effects of poor health, according to a new report released by Pakistan’s Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre.
Madagascar: Progress in the fight against malaria
MAJAKANDRINA, Madagascar, 30 June 2005 – Her fever dangerously high, a small child rides to hospital in a UNICEF vehicle, the only available transportation. The hospital is several hours away, but she must go because her life is seriously threatened – as a result of a mosquito bite.
Integrated health services for children show ‘remarkable’ results, Veneman tells World Health Assembly
NEW YORK, 16 May 2005 – Child deaths in remote parts of West Africa have declined dramatically since UNICEF and its partners began an integrated health programme aimed at protecting children and their mothers.
Harvard meeting discusses overcoming barriers to child survival
BOSTON, 26 April 2005 - Every year some 10.8 million children under the age of five die from causes that could mostly be prevented. Reducing the child mortality among children under five by two thirds is one of the Millennenium Development Goals.
An integrated health campaign for Togo’s children
LOME, Togo, 8 March 2005 - Over 97 per cent of Togo’s children aged from 9 and 59 months received protection against four major childhood diseases during an unprecedented nationwide health campaign, according to a recent survey conducted by UNICEF.
UNICEF backs plans to save 3 million newborn babies each year
NEW YORK, 4 March 2005 - Three of the four million newborn babies who die worldwide each year could be saved by low-tech and low-cost interventions, according to a landmark series of articles launched by medical journal The Lancet.
Innocenti: child poverty on the rise in wealthy nations
NEW YORK, 1 March 2005 - The proportion of children living in poverty, or on less than $1 per day, has risen in most of the world’s developed countries since the early 1990’s, according to UNICEF’s latest report from the Innocenti Research Centre in Florence.
UNICEF gathers world experts to discuss poverty and children
NEW YORK, 17 February 2005 - Poverty is one of the biggest threats to children across the globe. UNICEF brought together today some of the world’s most renowned economists to discuss how policies can be developed to address the effects of poverty on children.
Pan-African Forum: Immunization as a way of building peace
DAKAR, Senegal, 19 October 2004 – Over the past two days, delegates at the Pan–African Forum on Building Trust for Immunization and Child Survival in Dakar have been busy creating a better Africa for children.
Pan-African Forum: Leaders confront threats to children’s survival
DAKAR, Senegal, 18 October 2004 – More than two hundred community and religious leaders from across Africa discussed the perils threatening the survival of Africa’s children, at the Pan-African Forum which opened here today.
UNICEF’s Bellamy addresses world’s paediatricians on new ways of increasing child survival
CANCUN/NEW YORK, 16 August 2004 – Several thousand paediatricians from around the world heard from UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy today about an innovative approach to child health care taking place in West Africa.
