PLAN Promotes Child Survival Before U.S. Congress

Childreach
Friday, 15 June 2001

As a member of the US Coalition for Child Survival, Childreach invited two PLAN speakers from the field to participate in congressional briefings organized by the Coalition and aimed at raising awareness among members of the US congress on the nature of child survival programs worldwide, and on the need to increase funding for such development projects.

On May 23, Ms. Adja Mbaye, National Health Coordinator for PLAN spoke on Capitol Hill at a Congressional Briefing entitled Safe Motherhood: Helping Mothers Survive Childbirth. Adja focused her presentation on child health in Senegal and PLAN's interventions in the Growing Up Healthy domain. Adja brought with her the Wuru, Were, Werle, also known as the 3W Safe Motherhood game used in Senegal to increase mother's awareness of maternal and child health risks. Her presentation was captivating and entertaining. The game brought a touch of reality on Capitol Hill and triggered the audience's curiosity. The other panelists were: moderator Adrienne Allison from Johns Hopkins University; Susan Otchere, Maternal Health Advisor for Save the Children; and Guillermo Dorion, Coordinator of the ALERT Project in Guatemala.

The second congressional briefing featured Babu Ram Devkota, Child Survival Project Coordinator for PLAN Nepal who spoke on June 14 at a briefing entitled Protecting the Next Generation: Saving the Lives of Newborns. Babu Ram worked very hard to deliver a superb presentation on issues and challenges of newborn care in Nepal. He spoke about the PLAN child survival project (funded by USAID) in the districts of Rautahat and Bara, the challenges and successes of such an intervention. The audience was particularly interested in hearing how harmful traditional practices exacerbate poor health conditions in the country. Babu Ram's power point presentation is also available for outreach purposes.

The US Coalition for Child Survival, funded primarily on grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to increase public and private donations for child survival programs worldwide. Among the founding members are the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the Academy for Educational Development, World Vision, PLAN International USA, the Global Health Council, Bread for the World, Save the Children and the US Fund for UNICEF. The US Coalition on Child Survival supports the Global Health Act of 2001, which among other specific requests, asks the US government an additional $225 million for child survival.

For more information, or to contact Childreach, see their website at: www.childreach.org