child

A mother and her newborn baby at the Maternal and Child Health Training Institute for medically needy in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
UN Photo/Kibae Park

Child mortality rates down sharply but more progress needed – UN report

13 September 2012
Although the pace of childhood death has declined sharply in recent decades – with an estimated 6.9 million children dying before their fifth birthday in 2011, compared to around 12 million in 1990 – greater gains must be made to meet international goals to save infants and young children, according to a United Nations report released today.
Credit: UNICEF
UNICEF

UNICEF warns of impact of high prevalence of child abuse in East Asia and the Pacific

7 August 2012
The high prevalence of physical abuse is causing long-term damage to the lives of far too many children in East Asia and the Pacific, warns a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
High-impact interventions and tools like new vaccines and improved health care are key to child survival.
UNICEF/Pirozzi

UNICEF, partners rally around global effort to end preventable child deaths

14 June 2012
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today joined governments and partners from the private sector, civil society and faith-based groups to launch a sustained, global effort to end preventable child deaths.
Water familiarisation in one of 10 SwimSafe portable pools in Danang, Viet Nam.
SwimSafe

New UN report urges greater efforts to prevent drowning deaths among children

23 May 2012
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and a partner organization are urging greater use of effective and cost-efficient measures to prevent drowning, which new research shows is a major killer across parts of Asia.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict speaks to the press in South Sudan.
UN Photo/T. La Rose

FEATURE: UN envoy confident use of child soldiers can be eradicated

3 April 2012
The Security Council process of naming and shaming groups that recruit and use child soldiers has been effective in combating the scourge, the United Nations envoy working on the issue says, adding that, like slavery, this horrible practice can be eradicated with concerted action.

UN’s message to mothers: breastfeeding can save your baby’s life

1 August 2011
The United Nations and its partners are promoting the use of all possible means of communication, including social networking, blogs and even flash mobs, to get the message out on the benefits of breastfeeding beyond clinics and delivery rooms to the wider public.

UN launches campaign for universal ban on sale, prostitution of children

25 May 2010
The United Nations today launched a major campaign for universal adoption of treaty protocols that outlaw the sale of children, child prostitution and pornography, and protect youngsters in armed conflict, with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling for full ratification by 2012.
Hundreds of families with young children work and live in these brickyards near Islamabad – often under conditions of bonded labour.

Countries agree on UN-backed roadmap to curb child labour

12 May 2010
With more than 200 million children around the world working at the expense of their future, a new United Nations-backed action plan seeks to ramp up global action to stamp out the scourge by 2016.

UNESCO issues voluntary sex education guidelines to help young people

27 August 2009
New voluntary sexuality education guidelines have been issued by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to help young people learn how to protect themselves against HIV and against abuse and exploitation.
Members of the Secretariat of the first-ever Global Model United Nations Conference

Children’s schooling under threat from deepening poverty, warns UN official

5 August 2009
Poverty is the biggest threat to the educational development of children around the world, a senior United Nations official today warned hundreds of students gathered for the start of the first ever Global Model UN (GMUN) conference.