Child SurvivalA Global Issue

The Problem• Child survival is a huge global issue facing the world

today, from early childhood development and

HIV/AIDS to Nutrition and Water sanitation and

hygiene. UNICEF is a huge supporter of this issue

and is committed to end preventable child deaths.

What is UNICEF?• The United Nations Children's Fund

• “United Nations Program headquartered in New

York City that provides long-term humanitarian and

developmental assistance to children and mothers

in developing countries.” (Wikipedia)

UNICEF• UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to

advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.

• UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behavior towards children.

• UNICEF insists that the survival, protection and development of children are universal development imperatives that are integral to human progress.

• UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families.

• UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities.

• UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In coordination with United Nations partners and humanitarian agencies, UNICEF makes its unique facilities for rapid response available to its partners to relieve the suffering of children and those who provide their care.

• UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority.

• UNICEF aims, through its country programs, to promote the equal rights of women and girls and to support their full participation in the political, social, and economic development of their communities.

• UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realization of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

Intervention Points• Early Childhood Development

• HIV/AIDS

• Nutrition

• Water Sanitation and Hygiene

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

• THE 3 BASIC NECESSITIES IN LIFE ARE FOOD,

CLOTHING AND SHELTER.

• THE FIRST 3 YEARS OF LIFE ARE THE MOST CRITICAL IN

COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL

DEVELOPMENT.

• UNICEF AGREES THAT THESE FIRST 3 YEARS PLAY A

VITAL ROLE IN BREAKING THE CYCLE OF POVERTY,

PROMOTING ECONOMIC PRODUCTIVITY AND

ELIMINATING SOCIAL DISPARITIES AND INEQUALITIES.

WHY EARLY CHILDHOOD

EDUCATION?• 7.6 MILLION CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 5 DIE

EACH YEAR.

• MORE THAN 25 TIMES THAT NUMBER SURVIVE BUT DO

NOT REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.

• MANY DO NOT REACH THEIR FULL HUMAN POTENTIAL

BECAUSE OF POVERTY, HUNGER, INADEQUATE CARE

AND INSUFFICIENT OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN.

WHY EARLY CHILDHOOD

EDUCATION?• EARLY EDUCATION CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

THROUGH ADULTHOOD.

• CHILDREN RECEIVING EARLY EDUCATION ARE MORE

LIKELY TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN SCHOOL, AND AS

ADULTS ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE HIGHER

EMPLOYMENT AND EARNINGS, LIVE A HEALTHIER LIFE

AND LOWER LEVELS OF CRIME RATES.

UNICEF & ECE• This basically sums it all up and is an amazing paragraph

on ECE:

• Based on new research and a new understanding of the complete well-being of the child, early child development is increasingly being put on the agenda for children’s rights. Ensuring the healthy cognitive, social and emotional development of young children merits the highest priority of every responsible government, organization, community, family and individual for the sake of raising healthy children worldwide. Reaching children in a holistic manner and incorporating health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and interventions that support their full development is crucial. (UNICEF, 2013)

HALF THE SKY & ECE• WE SAW MANY INSTANCES IN HALF THE SKY OF THE

DIFFERENCES AN EARLY EDUCATION OR AN

EDUCATION AT ALL COULD MAKE ON PEOPLE.

• FROM EARLY EDUCATION TO PRENATAL CARE,

EDUCATION CHANGED LIVES AND SAVED LIVES.

• THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WAY TO ENCOURAGE

WOMEN AND GIRLS TO STAND UP FOR THEIR RIGHTS

IS EDUCATION, AND WE CAN DO FAR MORE TO

PROMOTE UNIVERSAL EDUCATION IN POOR

COUNTRIES (HALF THE SKY, P.53).

HIV & AIDS

UNICEF & HIV/AIDS• UNICEF specializes in HIV prevention, as well as in

protection, care and support for babies, children, young people and mothers affected by the virus.

• “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS Campaign” was launched in 2005 to reverse the HIV and AIDS epidemic by 2015.

• Eliminating new HIV infections among children is an ambitious but achievable goal. With the support of the every woman every child movement, an aids-free generation can be ours. There is no better investment than the health of women and children.”

-Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations

HIV Statistics• An estimated 34.0 million people were living with HIV as

of 2011

• 3.3 million of them were children under 15 years

• 16.7 million were women

• Every day, nearly 7,000 persons became infected with HIV

• Nearly 5,000 persons die daily from AIDS

• As of 2011, roughly 17.3 million children under the age of 18 have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and millions more have been affected

• Of the estimated 1.7 million people who died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2011, 230,000 of them were children under 15 years of age.

Strategies to Help Prevent HIV

• Make women and child’s health a priority

• Prevent mother-to-child transmission

• Strengthen linkages between HIV programming and

national social welfare and community-based

support systems

• Strengthen primary HIV prevention and family

planning services

• Expand education

Strategies Continued…• Address stigma and discrimination through strong

community engagement

Half the Sky & HIV/AIDS• In Half the Sky is says “Quite apart from laying a

foundation for economic development, family

planning programs are also crucial these days in

fighting AIDS. HIV is a special problem for women, in

part because of biology…One of the greatest

moral and policy failures of the last thirty years is the

indifference that allowed AIDS to spread around

the globe” (pp. 135-136)

• Responding to HIV is a shared responsibility, and

achieving an AIDS-free generation will be a shared

triumph

Nutrition

Nutrition• Proper nutrition helps give every child the best start in life

• Malnutrition causes 40% of the 11 million deaths of

children under five in developing countries

• Key tools in the effort to defeat malnutrition include: an

adequate diet, which includes immediate and exclusive

breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued

breastfeeding with age-appropriate complementary

foods, micronutrients, prevention and treatment of

disease and proper care and feeding practices.

• Protect the rights of women and girls. Wherever women

are discriminated against and uneducated, there is

greater malnutrition.

Malnutrition Micronutrition

• Malnutrient micronutrition is when the body lacks essential minerals – iodine, iron, and zinc- and vitamins A and folate

• Iodine deficiencies can lead to severe mental or physical impairment

• Iron deficiencies can lead to life-threatening anemiaIn Half the Sky it says “Some 31 percent of households in the developing world do not get sufficient iodine from water or food. The result is occasional goiters and, much more frequently, brain damage when children are still in the womb…iodizing salt may not be glamorous, but it gets more bang for the buck than almost any form of foreign aid” (pp. 172 & 247)

• Vitamin A deficiencies can lead to blindness and weakened immune system

• Folate deficiencies lead to low birth weight or birth defects such as spinal bifida

Breastfeeding• initial source of vital micronutrients, as well as

providing overall sound nutrition and good health

• The immune factors, growth factors, and other

protective factors in mother’s milk cannot be found

anywhere else in nature.

• Lack of breastfeeding in early infancy causes

approximately 1.5 million deaths.

UNICEF & The Global Community

• Micronutrients enhance the nutritional value of food and have a profound impact on a child’s development and a mother’s health. UNICEF works with governments to deliver key minerals and vitamins –iodine, iron, vitamin A and folate – through supplementation, fortification and promotion of micronutrient-rich diets. To achieve the goals of virtual elimination of vitamin A and iodine deficiencies, UNICEF collaborates with a diverse group of public and private organizations, forming alliances such as the Vitamin A Global Initiative.

• Families and communities are the key players in the battle against childhood malnutrition and must work together to assess, analyze and take action to solve any problems. UNICEF’s strategy is to empower community members to become their own agents of change. UNICEF's role is to work with governments to support participatory, community-based programs focusing on children’s survival, growth and development.

• Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well nourished are more likely to be healthy, productive and able to learn. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole. Children’s nutrition and well being are the foundation of a healthy, productive society.

Water Sanitation & Hygiene

Water Sanitation & Hygiene Facts

• 768 million people live without access to improved

drinking water sources

• 40 billion hours spent every year walking to collect

water in Africa alone

• 75% of the burden f collecting water is born by

women and children

• 272 million days of school missed per year due to

diarrhea

• 88% of the diarrhea cases are preventable through

safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene

Water Sanitation• The UN as part of its millennium development goals set a

target of halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015.

• The world health organization (who) established the household water treatment and safe storage network, a consortium of over 100 organizations in developing countries with the goals of fostering collaboration, generating research, and establishing measures to scale up pilot projects.

• Nearly 60% of infant mortality is linked to infectious diseases, most of them water, sanitation and hygiene related.

• Globally, diarrhea is the 3rd largest cause of morbidity and 6th largest cause of morality.

UNICEF’s Role• Unicef worked with un and other global partners to

supply water to over 200,000 people in taclobanfollowing typhoon Haiyan

• Unicef’s strong relationship with the Philippians government helped acquire enough fuel supplies to run water sanitation plants for 4 days

• As a result 30,000 access points across tacloban are functioning. With full operation of the water treatment plant, clean water volume will increase from 15,000 liters to 60,000 liters

• Though clean water is a priority of Unicef. There are still 1.3 million people affected by this disaster, 5 million of them children. 789,000 children have been displaced, many unaccompanied.

Conclusion

A Collective Effort• Early Childhood Development- If we as a global community actively create

policies educating children from an early age, we have exponentially broaden their future, but also significantly increase their chances of thriving in life.

• HIV/AIDS- As seen in the TED talks this semester with Emily Oster, HIV/ AIDS are diseases that are related to life expectancy. If people think they wont live long, they are more likely to have unprotected sex, knowing they can contract this disease. If we improve the prior three points (Development, water/Sanitation, and Nutrition) life expectancy will go up, and in turn people’s thoughts should follow suit and lead to safer sexual practices.

• Nutrition- Along with Malnutrition comes fatigue, and disease. Providing food or a sustainable measure, i.e. crops to consume would alleviate these issues in the youth and once again open the doorway to progress through education

• Water Sanitation & Hygiene- If we can provide sustainable waterworks and hygiene to third world countries the youth wouldn’t only be benefited by the direct effects of eliminating water borne illness’s. If no longer having to trek for water, or be incapacitated from disease, they would have much more time to spend on education or work to support their future and family.

References• Kristof, N,D, WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the Sky. New York, USA: Vintage Books.

• Improving Child Nutrition. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 1-132. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/files/Nutrition_Report_final_lo_res_8_April.pdf

• http://www.unicefusa.org/2013/11/unicef-restores-water-supply-typhoon-devastated-tacloban.html

• http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es072435t

• Nutrition. (n.d.). UNICEF. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/

• UNAIDS and UNWTO ST-EP Foundation release a unique new book on HIV for children. (2014, May 8). UNAIDS and UNWTO ST-EP Foundation release a unique new book on HIV for children. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2014/may/20140708bravestboyiknow/

• UNICEF. (2013). Why Early Childhood Development? http://www.unicef.org/earlychildhood/

• Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS. (n.d.). HIV/AIDS and children. Retrieved June 23, 2014, from http://www.unicef.org/aids/

• United Nations Children’s Fund, Towards an AIDS-Free Generation – Children and AIDS: Sixth Stocktaking Report, 2013, UNICEF, New York, 2013.