Welcome
The number of children whose survival is in danger, or whose lives are blighted because of gender or poverty, remains stubbornly high. Almost half of the region’s children are underweight. South Asia has some of the world’s highest rates of maternal mortality with, for instance, maternal mortality rates as high as 300 maternal deaths occurring for every 100,000 live births in some places. Common themes provide a challenging environment for all those engaged in making South Asia a better place for children. These include a lack of education opportunity for millions of girls, social customs that accept extreme gender bias, and practices such as early marriage. Widespread exclusive practices on the basis of ethnicity, caste, language and gender make the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals ( MDGs) for the region more difficult. And where some countries at a macro level are set to achieve their MDG targets, sub-nationally enormous gaps remain. South Asia is also a region prone to natural disasters such as flooding, cyclones and earthquakes, as well as heightened political tensions and turbulence. UNICEF works to achieve its goals and improve the environment for children by working through governments, UNICEF Country Offices, international agencies and local partners throughout the region. We hope we also can count on your support too. Thank you for visiting us here at ROSA!
Daniel Toole is the UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia based in Kathmandu. He brings to the region experience of development, nutrition, natural disaster and emergency management, and is responsible for ensuring overall policy and programme coherence as well as regional and global advocacy for children in South Asia.
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