UN partners renew commitment to end preventable newborn deaths

25 April 2016

AMMAN, 24 April 2016 – The World Health Organization (WHO), UNFPA (the United Nations Population Fund) and UNICEF are joining efforts to support Arab countries, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan to  reduce neonatal mortality and improve the quality of health care services provided to newborns and mothers. Last year, more than 450,000 newborn children in the first month of life died in these countries, accounting for more than half of all deaths in children under five years old. 

More than 100 maternal and child health experts, non-governmental organizations, academics and researchers will take part in a three day joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA meeting in Amman, Jordan from the 24th April. Participants will discuss the main challenges to the well-being of newborns and plans to provide effective health care to all newborns in accordance with the “Every Newborn Action Plan”. 

Between 1990 and 2015, maternal mortality in the region decreased by over half (54%) while under-five mortality decreased by 48%. The largest challenge remains in the period at or around birth, with more than half of under-five deaths occurring in the first 28 days of life. Although deaths in this neonatal period have fallen by 37%, it has been at a slower rate than for older age groups. 

During the meeting, the Regional Directors of WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF will sign a Joint Statement on Accelerating the Reduction of Neonatal Mortality. They will commit their continued support to governments across the region to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths by 2030.

In the joint statement, the three organizations pledge to: work with governments to  strengthen their leadership and capacity to maintain health services in humanitarian emergencies; build national capacity that enables Member States to mobilize a sufficient and skilled workforce, and provide essential supplies and equipment for maternal and newborn health care; strengthen the skills of the midwifery workforce and community health workers to facilitate better quality of newborn health care; and strengthen management capacity and financial resources to sustain strong health systems for high-quality service delivery. 

By the end of the meeting, participants will agree on a set of recommendations that will assist countries in developing and updating their national reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child strategic health plans.

 

 

Media contacts

Jean-Jacques Simon
UNICEF Bangladesh
Tel: +880 17 1304 3478

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