Who Unicef Regional Child Survival Strategy

The joint WHO/UNICEF Regional Child Survival Strategy offers a unified direction and a description of the actions necessary to successfully implement life-saving interventions. It can be used to guide countries and areas in the Region in their efforts to improve child survival. The Strategy focuses on children from birth to 5 years of age and advocates approaches that give every child the same chance for survival. This document includes key background information, the rationale for accelerated and sustained action for child survival, and a brief description of interventions included in the essential package for child survival. In addition, it includes action that will strengthen the essential package, a description of strategic approaches for child survival, a section about the diversity of countries and areas, and key points on monitoring and evaluation. It concludes with a brief description of the way forward.

The 2008 report examines the state of child survival and primary health care for children, with a strong emphasis on trends in child mortality.

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the unique document that sets international standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. To celebrate this landmark, the United Nations Children's Fund is dedicating a special edition of its flagship report The State of the World's Children to examining the Convention's evolution, progress achieved on child rights, challenges remaining, and actions to be taken to ensure that its promise becomes a reality for all children.

The 2008 report examines the state of child survival and primary health care for children, with a strong emphasis on trends in child mortality. It appraises the lessons learned in child survival over the past century. The centerpiece of the report looks at several of the most promising approaches-community partnerships, the continuum of care framework and health-system strengthening for out-comes-to reach those mothers, new borns and children who are currently excluded from essential interventions. By highlighting examples from countries and districts where these have been successful, as well as exploring the main challenges to their expansion, this report offers practical ways to jump-start the progress.

The State of Africa's Children 2008 is a regional edition of UNICEF's The State of the World's Children 2008 report. Complementary to the global report, it examines the state of child survival in Africa and highlights the need to position child health at the heart of the region's development and human rights agenda. It also outlines possible solutions - programmes, policies and partnerships - to accelerate progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals.--Publisher's description.

Annotation. The State of the World's Children 2008 examines the current state of child survival and primary health care for mothers, newborns and children and outlines strategies for reducing under-five deaths and providing a continuum of care. The pocket-sized executive summary provides an overview of the full report and includes regional summary indicators.

Having a child remains one of the biggest health risks for women worldwide. Fifteen hundred women die every day while giving birth. That's a half a million mothers every year. UNICEF's flagship publication, The State of the World's Children 2009, addresses maternal mortality, one of the most intractable problems for development work.The difference in pregnancy risk between women in developing countries and their peers in the industrialised world is often termed the greatest health divide in the world. A woman in Niger has a one in seven chance of dying during the course of her lifetime from complications during pregnancy or delivery. That's in stark contrast to the risk for mothers in America, where it's one in 4,800 or in Ireland, where it's just one in 48,000. Addressing that gap is a multidisciplinary challenge, requiring an emphasis on education, human resources, community involvement and social equality. At a minimum, women must be guaranteed antenatal care, skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetrics, and postpartum care. These essential interventions will only be guaranteed within the context of improved education and the abolition of discrimination.