The US Fund for Unicef recently published the 2009 State of the World’s Children (SOWC), a report outlining conditions that affect children worldwide. The report addresses the main causes of maternal and newborn mortality as well as the scale and scope of the problem.  Now, Unicef has released Child Survival: A Global Challenge, the youth version of the SOWC report to bring these very important issues to the a younger audience.

This new report includes a summary of the findings of the SWOC using simple language and easy to understand numbers in an effort to educate the youth of the industrialized world about the global status of maternal and newborn health.  Including such statistics as “the average lifetime risk of a woman in one of the least developed countries dying from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth is more than 300 times greater than that of a woman living in an industrialized country,” the report expands on what it deems the “greatest health divide in the world.”  The report includes a number of basic graphs and charts that clearly illustrate where maternal and neonatal mortality is highest, causes of death and more.  Child Survival: A Global Challenge concludes with a summary of cost-effective strategies for reducing maternal and newborn mortality rates including: advocating for prenatal care, use of skilled birth attendants, nutrition counseling and supplementation for pregnant and nursing mothers and more. 

Also available is the Educator’s Guide (meant for grades 8-12) which provides several interdisciplinary lessons, activities and handouts to “help students to see the need for a global call to action.”

Download Child Survival: A Global Challenge (pdf)

Download the Educator's Guide (pdf)