14 Jun 2012

Joint Press Release: Thursday June 14 World Unites to Accelerate Progress in Ending Preventable Child Deaths



Washington, D.C. – Today over 80 governments and a multitude of partners from the private sector, civil society,and faith-based organizations gather at the Child Survival Call to Action – a high-level forum convened by the governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States, in collaboration with UNICEFto launch a sustained, global effort to save children’s lives. 

Over the past 40 years, new vaccines, improved health care practices, investments in education, and the dedication of governments, civil society and other partners have contributed to reducing the number of child deaths by more than 50 per cent. 

Still, millions of children – most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia – die every year from largely preventable causes before reaching their fifth birthdays. In 2010, this translated to 57 children dying for every 1,000 live births. 

The Call to Action challenges the world to reduce child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035. Reaching this historic target will save an additional 45 million children’s lives by 2035, bringing the world closer to the ultimate goal of ending preventable child deaths.

Modelling shows that this goal can be reached by greater effort across five key areas:
    1. Geography: Increasing efforts in the 24 countries that account for 80 percent of under-five deaths occur
    2. High Burden Populations: Focusing country health systems on scaling-up access for underserved populations, to include rural and low income groups
    3. High Impact Solutions: Addressing the five causes that account for nearly 60 per cent of child deaths: pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, pre-term births and intrapartum (around the time of childbirth)
    4. Education for Women and Girls: Investing beyond health programs to include educating girls, empowering women, and promoting inclusive economic growth
    5. Mutual Accountability: Unifying around a shared goal and using common metrics to track progress

At the Call to Action, governments and partners are being asked to pledge their support for A Promise Renewed , a commitment to work together on sharpening national plans for child survival, monitoring results, and focusing greater attention on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

“We have the tools, the treatments, and the technology to save millions of lives every year, and there is no excuse not to use them,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “To renew our promise to the world’s children, we have to focus on the leading causes of child mortality like diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, scaling up coverage of high-impact, low-cost treatments, sparking greater innovation, and spurring greater political will to reach the hardest to reach children. The grand goal of preventing child deaths must be our common cause.” 

”India is honored to co-convene this global call to action. The opportunity is timely, and we have to seize it. Though there has been a steady decline in child mortality rates in India over the past 10 years, there is no place for complacency,” said Ghulam Nabi Azad , India’s Minister of Health and Family Welfare. “Reducing neonatal, infant and child mortality remains the topmost goal of India’s National Rural Health Mission. With India’s experiences in child survival interventions, and the magnitude of scale of programming, the country is well positioned to work towards furthering collaboration in implementation of Child Survival Initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.

“In the world, there are no two countries that are the same. Therefore each of us needs to define our own roadmap to achieve this laudable goal. In Ethiopia, we have halved under-5 mortality rates from 166 to 88 per 1,000 live births just in the last decade,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ethiopia’s Minister of Health. “What we can promise the world and our children now is that Ethiopia will try our best, as we have done in the past, to bring the rate down to fewer than 20 deaths per 1000 live births by 2035. We will then be able to look back and say that we have done justice for our children, and we have written an important piece in human history,” he added.

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said: “Development can be full of problems we have few ways to solve. Helping a child reach their 5th birthday is not one of them. It is not a question of whether the world can end preventable child deaths; it is question of whether we will.”

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The two days of events will be Livestreamed at: http://www.apromiserenewed.org
Twitter hashtag: #Promise4Children
B-roll and events of the day will be recorded, packaged, and delivered on:
http://weshare.unicef.org/pickup?key=S788e1517-36e8-4ed9-8a56-01a92fc5fa3d
Updates and photos will be posted on the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/APromiseRenewed
For further information or requests, please contact:
Peter Smerdon, UNICEF New York, Tel.             + 1212 303 7984      , Mobile             +1 917 213 5188       psmerdon@unicef.org
Sarah Crowe, Spokesperson for the Executive Director,             1 212 326 7206       scrowe@unicef.org
India
Caroline den Dulk, Chief, Communication & Advocacy, UNICEF, India Country Office. Mob # 9818106093, email: cdendulk@unicef.org
Geetanjali Master, Communication Specialist, UNICEF, India Country Office. Mob # 9818105861, email gmaster@unicef.org

Global leaders to chart course towards the end of preventable child deaths


WASHINGTON, D.C. – The governments of the United States, India and Ethiopia will in collaboration with UNICEF convene the Child Survival Call to Action in Washington D.C. 14-15 June 2012.

The Call to Action brings together 700 leaders and global experts to launch a sustained effort to save children's lives. The untold story of child survival is that the global community now has the combined knowledge, innovations, technical know-how and affordable tools to end preventable child deaths. Evidence shows that it is possible to decrease under-five mortality rates in developing countries to levels approaching those in wealthier countries, and to reduce disparities between the poorest and wealthiest children within nations.
The Call to Action challenges the world to reduce child mortality to below 20 child deaths or fewer per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035.  Reaching this historic target will have saved an estimated, additional 45 million children’s lives between 2010 and 2035, bringing the world closer to the ultimate goal of ending preventable child deaths. 
The Call to Action forum will launch Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, a pledge to accelerate declines in maternal and child mortality.Through national action and international cooperation, governments and partners renew the world’s commitment to give every last child the best possible start in life.
The press conference is ahead of two days of discussions on 14-15 June at the Child Survival: Call to Action. On 14 June, there will also be a special announcement by actor, director and founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative Ben Affleck.
WHEN: Wednesday, 13 June, 2:15 pm EDT telephone press conference.
WHO: Speakers include Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health, Government of Ethiopia; Anuradha Gupta, Permanent Secretary, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director; and Rajiv Shah, Administrator, US Agency for International Development.
Child Survival: Call to Action Conference AgendaThursday and Friday, 14-15 June 9:00 am—5:00 pm EDT.
WHERE: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
The two days of events will be Livestreamed at: http://www.apromiserenewed.org
Background:Ten years after the UN General Assembly passed the landmark resolution on A World Fit for Children, A Promise Renewed aims to build on the global success in reducing preventable child deaths and renew political will to get the job done. By pledging support for A Promise Renewed, partners vow to redouble efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 by 2015 and to reduce child mortality in all countries, achieving 20 or fewer under-five deaths per 1,000 live births by 2035, with a focus on reaching the most disadvantaged and hardest-to-reach children in every country.