Acting on the Call: Ending preventable child and maternal deaths

The event took place at  Washington, D.C on Wednesday 25th June 2014 titled ‘Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths’. It was convened by USAID and Partners to unveil new efforts to Save Child and Maternal Lives. The meeting was co- hosted by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah, the […]

The event took place at  Washington, D.C on Wednesday 25th June 2014 titled ‘Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths’. It was convened by USAID and Partners to unveil new efforts to Save Child and Maternal Lives.
 The meeting was co- hosted by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah, the Governments of Ethiopia and India, in collaboration with UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners. The meeting unveiled new efforts to save an unprecedented number of women and children by 2020 in 24 priority countries including our country Nigeria and also announced the adoption of bold reforms to improve effectiveness and efficiency at the Agency.
The Forward of the report ‘Acting on the call; ending preventable child and maternal deaths ‘written  by the USAID Administrator highlighted that  “this June, we mark the second anniversary of the Child Survival Call to Action, when the world came together to craft a global goal to end preventable child deaths by 2035.
 In the last two years, we pioneered a new approach that has empowered partner countries to achieve this aspiration by leading with robust business plans and evidence-based report cards. With a strong foundation in place, now is the time for the global community to mobilize around results-oriented country action plans to realize a world where every child everywhere lives to celebrate his or her 5th birthday.”
 Some personalities at the event made very useful comments and observations worth sharing here. Anthony Lake, Executive Director, UNICEF observed that “Saving the lives of children and mothers is a shared responsibility and must be a global priority.
 In 2012, the Governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States challenged the world to do everything possible to accelerate declines in preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths. The response was Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed—a global movement that has been endorsed by over 170 governments and hundreds of civil society and private sector organizations.
 As we look back over the past two years, we have seen many countries translate their promise to women and children into practical action and results. Once again led forward by the governments of the United States, Ethiopia, and India, we have reconvened to take stock of our progress and plot our course for achieving even greater results for the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Because every child, everywhere, deserves the best possible start in life.”
 Pam Barnes, CEO, EngenderHealth observed that “At the heart of maternal health and child survival is a healthy woman. We cannot underestimate the power of access to family planning and reproductive health services, which are critical to ensuring the health of women and their families. With a shared vision and unified effort, we lend our voices and support to USAID’s important event, Acting on the Call: Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths, as we accelerate momentum toward our collective goal to achieve maternal and child health everywhere.”
 Ray Chambers, UN Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and For Malaria and Chair of the Blue Ribbon Advisory Panel (commenting on USAID’s announcement that it will realign $2.9 billion of the Agency’s resources to save up to half a million children from preventable deaths by the end of 2015 and its plan to appoint a Coordinator to oversee USAID’s near- and longer-term goals for impact) “We applaud USAID for its commitment to improving efficiency and effectiveness in its quest to save more lives and improve health among the world’s most vulnerable people. In embracing the Panel’s recommendations in their entirety, and learning from its own ground-breaking President’s Malaria Initiative, USAID is transforming how money is spent, and is leading a new way of tracking lives saved and measuring economic impact. As a businessman who understands return on investment, I am confident that this focus on impact—measured most clearly by the 500,000 additional lives to be saved by the end of 2015.”
 The report had also reiterated that USAID has changed how it works across the globe by aligning its resources in priority countries and toward the life-saving interventions that have the greatest impact. Over the last 18 months, USAID has undertaken a rigorous review of maternal and child health funding to identify inefficiencies and accelerate progress. To achieve these results, USAID has shifted its focus to 24 countries, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia that account for 70% of maternal and child deaths and half of the unmet need for family planning. They are: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Yemen. These countries are characterized by high magnitude (numbers) and/or severity (rates) of maternal and child deaths.
 As captured in the press release shared same day, USAID will align up to $2.9 billion over the next 3 years to save up to 500,000 lives and also had announced a new $500 million child survival and maternal health award.
 In conclusion, I will like to emphasize that with all these resources going to 24 countries including Nigeria, this calls for vigilance by the media and civil societies to track implementation and resource mobilization and how it is utilized. It is also a call for the African and Asian leaders including health and finance ministers to demonstrate greater accountability and transparency.

 All comments to Dr Aminu Magashi at [email protected]