Children’s Day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 1954 in order to initiate action and promote children’s welfare on a global scale. There is a lot to be said about how far we’ve come over the years to bring about better conditions for children. UNICEF Executive Director, Anthony Lake, stated in a press release today, “In just over a generation, the world has cut child death rates by half, put over 90 percent of children in primary school, and increased by 2.6 billion the number of people with access to safe water.” But there are still large inequities that exist for the world’s poorest children. Lake continued, “Yet children make up almost half of the world’s poor, nearly 250 million children live in conflict-torn countries, and over 200,000 have risked their lives this year seeking refuge in Europe.” UNICEF presented a report that gave statistics about the world’s poorest children stating that they are “nearly twice as likely as those from the richest households to die before the age of five, and five times more likely to be out of school.” The hope is that if we invest in children we can break the cycle of poverty, and benefit not only them, but their families and communities.
There is so much that needs to be done for the children of this world, and it is sickening to think of how unfair the world can be for the poorest of them. At Rural Health Collaborative we know the benefit of investing in children, and we are trying our best to provide education to those who can bring health to the children of Akatsi, Ghana. We provide our Community Health Promoters with education to help mothers keep their babies safe through pregnancy and delivery, as well as what to do for a sick baby, and how to continue to provide them with the best nutrition throughout childhood and beyond!
