UNICEF report on the state of the world's children launched
22 January 2008
Annual report calls for more progress on children's health to achieve
Millennium Development Goals
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 Today
sees the launch of UNICEF’s major annual report on children's health -
" The State of the World's Children" - which for 2008 focuses on child survival.
DFID supports the contents of the report, which promotes a broad
approach to tackling children's health issues.
The report provides a wide-ranging assessment of the current state of child
survival and primary healthcare for mothers, newborns and children. It examines
the lessons that have been learned in children's health over the last few decades and highlights the emerging strategies
that will be most important in achieving Millennium
Development Goal 4 - a two-thirds reduction in under-five mortality between 1990
and 2015.
Responding to the report, Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International
Development, said:
"I welcome the annual State of the World's Children Report. Whilst showing
that good progress has been made in some countries, it’s right to highlight that
an urgent and concerted push is required to make enough progress in Africa and
parts of South Asia to cut child deaths. That is why the Prime Minister has
called for 2008 to be a year of action towards meeting the MDGs.
"The report's
strong focus on integrating maternal, newborn and child health approaches is
particularly appropriate and is an approach that DFID supports. Improving health
services for women as well as for children will have a positive impact upon
child heath. The latest figures show that the UK is the second largest donor to
UNICEF, contributing £105 million in 2006. UNICEF is one of the signatories of
the International Health Partnership, which will ensure that donors coordinate
how they work with poor countries to build better health systems."
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Fact File |
- More than 26,000 children under five die each day, mostly from
preventable causes.
- In 2006, more than 80% of all under-five deaths were in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
- The annual number of global child deaths has fallen from 20 million in 1960 to 9.7 million in 2006.
- Since 1990, almost one-third of the 50 least developed countries
have reduced child deaths by 40% or more.
- Over 500,000 mothers die from pregnancy or
childbirth related complications every year.
- In the developing world, one-quarter of pregnant women do
not receive a single antenatal care visit from a skilled health
professional. (Source: UNICEF)
Read more key facts
on child health
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Children's health at the halfway point
 The
2008 report's focus on the survival of children comes at a crucial time: the halfway point to the target year for the Millennium
Development Goals, 2015. DFID agrees with the report that, unless all the health
MDGs are tackled together, child deaths will not be stopped.
DFID joins UNICEF in calling for more progress on maternal and newborn health
to address the large proportion of deaths that occur around birth and during the
first month of life. To achieve this, strong and functioning health
systems, particularly for women and children, need to be developed, and to
reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS, reproductive health for all must become a
reality. DFID
believes that this can be best done through developing countries’ own
plans.
Often, basic services and poverty reduction strategies fail to reach children
from socially excluded groups. DFID therefore welcomes the emphasis given in the report to
partnerships and alliances that support the efforts of national government to "go the
extra mile" and ensure that every child is given the right to survive.
As part of its commitment to strengthening health systems to achieve the
off-track health MDGs, DFID (along with UNICEF, the other health-related UN
agencies and a wide range of donors and country partners) has championed the
International Health
Partnership, launched in September 2007.
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DFID: Working with UNICEF to help children
The UK was the second largest government donor to UNICEF in 2006,
contributing £105 million. Of this, £21 million was provided as core finance,
with the rest channelled directly to UNICEF's health, education, child
development and protection programmes across the world. This included support
for children affected by emergencies and for orphans and other children made
vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.
The UK has a partnership with Sweden and Canada to support the work of
UNICEF. The partnership supports UNICEF’s efforts to protect and advance the
rights of the world’s children and women, increase its effectiveness (including
through improved coherence across the UN system) and achieve greater and more
sustainable results for children and women.
Read more about DFID and the United Nations
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Links
Read our case studies to find out what DFID is doing to improve children's
health in developing countries:
Further links
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