Children dying before their 5th birthday

Causes of deaths among children under 5 years by percentage (2008)

Quick Facts

• The number of children in developing countries who died before they reached the age of five dropped from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1990 and 2008.
• Almost nine million children still die each year before they reach their fifth birthday.
• The highest rates of child mortality continue to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, where, in 2008, one in seven children died before their fifth birthday.
• Of the 67 countries defined as having high child mortality rates, only 10 are currently on track to meet the MDG target.

Essential Care. Photo: Oliver Belarga

Fewer child deaths

Child deaths are falling, but not quickly enough. Between 1990 and 2008, the death rate for children under five has decreased by 28 per cent, from 100 to 72 deaths per 1,000 live births. That means that, worldwide, 10,000 fewer under-fives die each day.
Many countries have shown considerable progress in tackling child mortality. Almost one third of the 49 least developed countries have managed to reduce their under five mortality rates by 40 per cent or more over the past twenty years. However, the current rate of progress is well short of the MDG target of a two-thirds reduction by 2015......

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Blog Action Day 2009-Climate Change and the family

Now is the time to take action on Climate Change: the most talked about and most blogged topic for the day! What will be the future for the mother and her family if Climate Change is not properly tackled? All over the world, families and livelihoods will be affected in the future with increase in green house gas emissions which causes a drastic change in the climate. This is a global threat and will adversely affect families, individuals, communities and countries at large.

Today being Blog Action Day, the blogosphere is shedding more light on how best we can support a good course of bridging the global warming gap and its effects on the climate by spreading the word and being heard.

How does Climate Change affect the livelihood of the family? It is often said that women are more vulnerable to the impact on societies of which climate change is a contributing factor. How true is that? Climate Change results in poverty, drought, poor health among others.

By ensuring a safer and secure world, we not only eradicate poverty, poor health or drought which results in food shortage and eventually death in living organisms including humans.

Women are the most affected in the society when it comes to Climate Change since they are the primary carers of their wards. Children also suffer the most in terms of changes in the environment with all kinds of ailment associated with increase in atmospheric temperatures resulting from global warming. It is often said that when a child is sick, the mother gets sick too (literally). Concerns about her children therefore allows her to use the most effective methods of reducing green house gas emissions if she has the means to do so like using the most effective methods in cooking, lighting and commuting only to mention a few.

To act positively on Climate Change, we ought to step out this day to reduce our energy consumption and the amount of carbon dioxide our diverse lifestyles contribute to the atmosphere which comprises our environment. Let us turn off the lights when we leave our rooms, turn off the taps, use more energy efficient bulbs, drive less and find alternative ways of commuting and more importantly create the awareness. We can ALL take serious actions TODAY to  avoid the catastrophic consequences of global warming because Climate Change does not only affect the poor in the society but the affluent as well.

Together we stand, divided we fall!! Let us all join hands to leave a safe and a greener future for the next generation.

Children are OUR FUTURE.