Today they meet in Washington, D.C. (United States) more than 80 governments and numerous collaborators from the private sector, civil society and religious organizations. And they do it to participate in the forum for two days 'Child Survival, call to action'.
The event has been organized by the governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States, to launch a global initiative that contributes to save children's lives.
Millions of children - most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia - they die every year for preventable causes before his fifth birthday In 2010, this resulted in 57 dead children per 1,000 live births.
However, we must also talk about how during the last 40 years, the emergence of new vaccines, improvements in health services, investments in education, and the dedication of governments, civil society and other partners have contributed to reducing number of infant deaths more than 50 percent. This Call to Action Challenges the world to reduce child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in all countries by 2035. Reaching this historic goal would save 45 million children by 2035, so that the world would be closer to the ultimate goal of ending the avoidable deaths of children.
The objective can be achieved with greater effort in five key areas:
Geography: Increase efforts in the 24 countries where 80 percent of the deaths of children under five are concentrated.
Large populations: Focus on national health systems to expand access to marginalized populations, and thus include rural and low-income populations
High impact solutions: Addressing the five causes that produce almost 60 percent of child deaths: pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, premature births and deaths during childbirth.
Education for women and girls: Include girls' education, women's autonomy, and promote inclusive economic growth.
Mutual responsibility: Unify measurement systems around a common goal in order to track progress.
"We have the tools, treatments and technology to save millions of lives every year, and there is no excuse for not using them"said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.
To renew the promise made to the world's children, we have to focus on the main causes of infant mortality such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, expanding the coverage of high-impact and low-cost treatments, generating more innovation and Stimulate greater political will to reach the children who are most difficult to reach. The main objective of preventing the deaths of children must be our common cause
The promoter of this global call to action is India, with India's experiences in interventions in favor of child survival, and the magnitude of the programs, The country is well positioned to implement child survival initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region.
In the world there are no equal countries, so everyone must define their own 'road map' to achieve the goal. Ethiopia (another of the organizers) has already halved (up to 88 percent today) the mortality rate in children under five years, now 'will do what they can' to lower the rate even more.
Rajiv Shah is responsible for USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development), and in his statements states 'helping a child to turn five should not become one of the problems of development. It is not a question of whether the world can end the preventable deaths of children, it is a matter of doing so. '
In this Call to Action, governments and allies are asked to commit to support A renewed promise, a commitment to work together on national plans for child survival, monitoring results and paying more attention to children more disadvantaged and vulnerable.
