Why create a child survival partnership?
The Child Survival Partnership (CSP) provides a forum for coordinated action
to address the major conditions that affect children's
health: it enables governments and partners to agree
on consistent approaches and stimulates concerted
efforts towards their implementation.
Child Survival in Ethiopia and Cambodia: Stories of partnership activity
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Child Survival in Ethiopia and Cambodia: Stories of partnership activity
Ethiopia ranks high among the countries with the highest burden of
child mortality. Following a high-level visit of members of the
Global Child Survival Partnership to Ethiopia in December 2003,
the Government set up a national child survival working committee
to organize a national conference on child survival. In preparation,
global partners provided technical support for planning of the
conference (WHO) and for conducting a situation analysis (USAID/WHO).
The three-day National Partnership Conference on Scaling Up Child
Survival Interventions in Ethiopia took place from 22 to 24 April
2004 and enjoyed high level participation from senior decision-makers
in the Ministry of Health, related government sectors, national
development partners, and from UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, USAID and
CIDA at global levels. Participants at the conference agreed to:
- Develop, promote and abide by one plan, one coordinating
mechanism and one monitoring strategy for improving child survival
in Ethiopia
- Double resources for health in Ethiopia and overcome
constraints to full utilization of existing and future budgets
for child survival activities, including those provided through
the country's health sector development program and the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper
- Support the new Health Extension Package promoted by Government
to increase coverage of basic health services, as a key health
delivery approach for achieving the Millennium Development Goal
for child survival in Ethiopia.
In Cambodia a high level consultation on child survival was held
in June 2004 bringing together for the first time all national
partners in health around the common goal of child mortality
reduction. As a result, Government has established a Child
Survival Steering Committee under direct supervision of the
Director-General for Health, as well as a Child Survival
Secretariat for day-to-day operations and coordination among
partners. In collaboration with the Commission on Macroeconomics
in Health, a child survival investment plan is under development
while a costing exercise supported by WHO will provide information
on the most cost-effective interventions to reduce child mortality
in Cambodia. Various partners have made new commitments including
the Cambodia Ministry of Health, the Asian Development Bank, the
World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, USAID, DfID, the European Commission,
JICA, and an alliance of national NGOs.
The experiences in Ethiopia and Cambodia show that the Child
Survival Partnership is able to revitalize interest and galvanize
action. The Partnership achieves these outcomes by building on
existing programs and structures, integrating child survival
activities in national development plans, and by targeting the
poorest segments of the population.
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Rolling Conference on Child Survival, 13-14 December 2005, University of London
The Child Survival Partnership is hosted by UNICEF.
Ms. Shahida Azfar is the interim Director and Dr. Flavia Bustreo is
the interim Deputy Director.
We encourage all interested organizations to join us in reducing
child mortality. For more information, please contact:
Child Survival Partnership Secretariat
3 UN Plaza, Room 23-14
New York, New York
(212) 824-6576
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