Child Mortality is not a controversial subject. We do not want to see children dying from curable diseases or starvation. We want to know how the deaths can be prevented, but before we pledge our support, we also need some evidence of the work being done with our money.
Save the Children’s ‘See where the Good Goes’ campaign aims to do exactly this. It focuses on supporting local health workers, who make a phenomenal difference in ensuring less children suffer from conditions easily treated. One of the central problems regarding healthcare in developing countries is distance. In the rural areas of any country it is likely that the nearest medical centre is a bit of a drive. So what do you do if you don’t have a car? Get a bus? What if there is no bus either because the road is unsafe to drive on, or because there is no transport system? Often walking is the only way.
This video shows us Mahmuda Akhter, a health worker in Bangladesh, on her way to see a patient. She walks many miles to see and treat children. With haunting background music, lush scenery and her beautiful traditional dress, Mahmuda could be used as a clip for a tourism advertisement for Bangladesh. Hence the invitation to compare her to a catwalk model.
It is refreshing to see a video like this. Many other campaign videos, particularly ones that focus on child mortality try to invoke our sympathy by pushing emotional buttons. Effective in recruiting donors, and truthful though they might be, ultimately we only left with a sense of the horror. Of course, there are two sides to every story. Whilst there is no sense in pretending everything is idyllic as tourism often does, likewise not all aid projects resemble a horror story.
Where the Good Goes is a success story.Due to basic care provided by health workers, a child is saved every 4 seconds. For all the negative statistics, there are hopeful ones too. More support is needed of course, more health workers have to be trained, but it is happening. Its just one of the many smaller easy solutions contributing to the bigger goals.
The United Nations has just released the draft outcome document for the High Level Plenary Meeting on the UN Millennium Development Goals scheduled for September.
The document is entitled: Keeping the Promise: United to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
What do you think of this outcome document? Tell us below in the comments.
This draft document will form the basis for the formal policy outcome of the forthcoming UN High-Level Meeting to review the MDGs this September. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon notes that with only five years until the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs “Time is short. We must seize this historic moment to act responsibly and decisively for the common good.”
The Global Poverty Project is working this September to hold world leaders to account for the promises they have made in the past and ensure that vital investment in maternal and child health is made.
To support the GPP’s Make September Count campaign click here.
What do you think of this outcome document? Tell us below.
The plan states that Obama ”will be issuing a new development policy in the near future. The policy will focus on achieving sustainable development outcomes by promoting broad‐based economic growth and democratic governance, investing in game‐changing innovations that have the potential to solve long‐standing development challenges, and building effective public sector capacity to provide basic services over the long term. The policy also puts a premium on selectivity, on leveraging the expertise and resources of others, on mutual accountability, and on evidence of impact. This new development policy will guide the U.S. approach to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
Importantly the plan acknowledges the crucial importance of the forthcoming UN High-Level Meeting to review the MDGs this September.
The Global Poverty Project is working this September to hold world leaders to account for the promises they have made in the past and ensure that vital investment in maternal and child health is made.
To support the GPP’s Make September Count campaign click here.
What do you think of Obama’s plan to achieve the MDGs? Tell us below.
Yesterday GPP Global Advisor Hugh Jackman appeared on the Hamish & Andy show to promote the Global Poverty Project, and our involvement in the new poverty awareness campaign Live Below the Line!
Hugh spoke about our presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons, and appeared in a spoof of the Live Below the Line campaign.
Live Below the Line is an initiative of The Global Poverty Project and The Oaktree Foundation, which invites Australians to feed themselves with just $2 a day - the Australian equivalent of the international Extreme Poverty Line. It seeks to raise awareness of the challenges faced by people living in extreme poverty.
Live Below the Line co-founder and GPP's Australian General Manager Rich Fleming is currently on his 83rd day of the $2 a day challenge - with 1,400 Australians registered to join him in the challenge when it kicks off next Monday.
Hugh is promoting the campaign to support GPP’s Poverty Education Program in Australian schools. This Program sees specially trained presenters travelling to schools around the country to educate and inspire Australian students to become leaders in the global movement to end extreme poverty.
You can find out more information about our Poverty Education Program, or get your school involved, here.
This time a few years ago, when still a student and keen to do something adventurous in the long summer ahead, I decide to take a trip around South East Asia. Though a classic student route, it was the first time I had really been outside of Europe, so personally, it felt quite groundbreaking. Whilst I was getting excited and looking up all the possible places I could go, with little thought to time or money, it did come to my attention that I may need some extra vaccinations.
The doctor said I’d need to check what I’d already had as a child, and having no recollection or record myself, I did what any sensible soul would. I asked my mum.
She delved into a thick file, and to my relief pulled out a small slip of paper that detailed every vaccination I’d had, with dates and boosters. There was my problem solved.
For my mum, like the majority of people in the Global North, vaccinating your child is a standard procedure. Like teaching them to walk, because of course, we wish to give them the best possible chance at life.
Vaccination levels fell in the 1990’s, but thanks to renewed support, this year it has risen again to 85% of children vaccinated worldwide. As Bill Gates advocates, what is needed is the cooperation from numerous parties; global corporations, governments, NGOs and people on the ground. As the global market expands, investors will look more to the developing world, but their investments are at risk if the population is not able to uphold a project.
A good level of health in a population is vital if the society is going to rise out of poverty. If we want to eradicate poverty in a generation, we have to ensure that the next generation are strong enough to encourage economic growth, and reach their full potential as individuals. This cannot happen without the security of vaccinations.
Our vaccination system here is so ingrained, that I never even thought about it until I decided to travel. I had never considered that I would get meningitis, measles or tuberculosis, and it is one of many safety nets that has allowed me to pursue my goals without a second thought to my health. Yes I take it for granted, and I would like the millions of other children around the world to be able to as well.
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