Simple solutions to save children

Every day, 5500 children under the age of five die across 21 countries in eastern and southern Africa alone. Put in different terms: in the past two months, more children have died in that region than the total number of people who died in Asia s December 2004 tsunami. Unless African governments and their international partners move quickly to redress the situation, 330000 more children will die in the next two months.
 
Countries across Africa mark the annual Day of the African Child on 16 June. It is an opportunity to reflect on progress towards childrens welfare and, perhaps, to acknowledge the indispensable role children play in the progress of any nation. Ignore the needs of the smallest and most fragile, warns United Nations childrens agency Unicef, and you rob a country of future farmers, teachers, nurses and leaders.
 
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by world leaders in 2000, recognise this critical link. Six of the eight MDGs address children. If attained, children would not have to die from treatable diseases and all could go to school on a full stomach and in good health. They would grow up in a protective family environment, free from abuse and exploitation.
 
Yet all the MDGs are running behind schedule. Unicef reports that the goal to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five lags farthest behind. Africa cannot meet this goal until well into the 22nd century unless much more is done to preserve childrens lives.
 
With the childhood of so many under threat, our collective future is compromised. Only as we move closer to realising the rights of all children will countries move closer to their goals of development and peace, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warns in a foreword to Unicefs State of the Worlds Children Report 2005.
 
While the family offers the first line of protection for children, many parents are simply too poor to provide all basic necessities for children to survive and develop, Unicef stresses. Governments therefore must devote a bigger share of their budgets towards meeting childrens needs.
 
Even modest investments can bring significant results. A simple 3 insecticide-treated mosquito net for every African child, for example, could reduce overall child mortality rates by 20% by protecting against malaria, the number one killer of children in Africa . The net works as a barrier between the body and mosquitoes that carry malaria.
 
Other simple solutions, such as providing a bucket of clean water, can also drastically improve child survival. It is estimated that about 20l of water is the bare minimum that a child needs for drinking, washing and basic sanitation. Yet some 4000 children worldwide die every day simply because they lack clean water. Unicef warns that the MDG target of halving by 2015 the number of people (1-billion) who do not have a safe water supply within 15 minutes walk of their home will not be met unless the international community steps up its efforts.
 
In sub-Saharan Africa , 43% of children drink unsafe water and as a result millions suffer from waterborne illnesses.
 
Fatima Kituxi knows well the hardships of growing up without enough fresh water. She has spent many hours searching for water in and around Mabuia village, just north of Angola s capital, Luanda . She also has had to care for brothers and sisters who have often suffered from typhoid, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases. Her first child, Isabel, died in 1999 after a series of diarrhoea attacks.
 
In 2000, Unicef responded to Mabuias appalling child mortality rates by helping the Angolan government build a pipeline from a river to the community. A filtering system was added to ensure that the water was clean and safe. Latrines, washbasins, taps and showers were also installed to improve sanitation. The community created a committee that now maintains the system. People were also taught good hygiene practices.
 
The results were exceptional: diarrhoea rates dropped to almost zero and child deaths plummeted. Girls were suddenly freed from hours of walking to and from the river, which allowed them better to concentrate on their schoolwork. Mothers found more time to grow crops, which could be sold to boost the family income. UN African Renewal