USAID has played vital role in global efforts to end preventable child deaths

Noting USAID last week "released its first progress report examining how reforms enacted three years ago have strengthened the agency's relentless focus on results," Nicole Schiegg, a senior adviser at the agency, writes in the GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, "One of the strongest examples of leveraging innovation and partnership is USAID's contribution to ending preventable child deaths." She continues, "USAID has played a vital role for decades in the development and delivery of low-cost, high-impact interventions to reach the most vulnerable children around the world," adding, "USAID is also the leader in supporting family planning, which enables women to have children at their healthiest times, so that both mother and infant are more likely to survive."

"These long-term investments have been paying dividends," Schiegg writes and provides statistics. "Building on these results, last year the United States joined with the governments of Ethiopia and India, in coordination with UNICEF, to host a Call to Action to end preventable child deaths," she notes, adding, "The work ahead will take years of partnership, innovation, and priority-setting." She outlines a number of USAID-led initiatives to improve child survival and writes, "This is just a snapshot of USAID's maternal and child health legacy. As USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said in his 2013 annual letter, 'We cannot address these challenges alone, but we can mobilize movements.'" She concludes, "Progress through partnership is made every day, and USAID's technical leaders look forward to continuing this important dialogue" (3/26).