Good health for women and children is critical to addressing poverty. Taking time away from economic activities to care for sick family members, borrowing money for health care, and the unthinkable loss of a mother or a child wreaks havoc on the fragile social and economic resources of families.
Unfairly, disease and death affect young children and pregnant women in developing countries.
The tragedy is that solutions to improving their health are known—today’s challenge is to find lasting approaches to ensure that these services are accessible to all, particularly the world’s poorest populations.
Concern’s successful partnership approach connects communities, local health services and policy makers to build enabling environments for reproductive and child health promotion. This entails:
- working with communities to analyze their situation and develop solutions that fit their realities promoting self-empowerment with recipient populations
- applying simple, direct and practical technical interventions
- publicizing the preventive health care as well as early danger signs of complications thus improving knowledge, practice and access to health care
- building the consciousness and charitable support of better off community members to provide social and economic support when the poorest members of society face health crises
- strengthening management of local health departments to provide quality health services
- advocating for appropriate policy change
With years of experience and expertise in innovative and effective maternal and child health programming, Concern is recognized as a leader in the field directing impacting the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable women and children. In 2008, Concern managed maternal and child health programs in ten countries, working to achieve Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) to improve maternal health and reduce child mortality.
Concern’s success is due in large measure to its commitment to comprehensive programming and community-based interventions which achieve sustainable results and address the maternal and child survival crisis, rather than piecemeal efforts. Concern creates a collective focus on improving health systems in a way that is sustainable, affordable, and ultimately manageable by governments and communities.
CHILD SURVIVAL
An essential component of Concern’s maternal and child health programming is child survival. Concern’s approach to child survival represents a philosophical shift from the direct provision of services to programs specifically designed to enable local residents and leaders to use and coordinate existing health service resources.
This program has grown over the past decade from serving 210,000 women and children in Bangladesh to serving more than 1.6 million women and children in Bangladesh, Burundi, Haiti Rwanda and Niger today.
Concern’s programs are leading the way to promote maternal, newborn and child health interventions that are low-cost, lasting and replicable. For less than $5 per family, per year, Concern effectively mobilizes communities and local health departments to achieve tremendous increases in coverage of essential health services such as maternal care, vaccinations, oral re-hydration solution for both rural and urban poor populations.
Read more about about Concern’s Efforts to Promote Community-based Treatment for Pneumonia.
WHERE WE WORK
Child Survival Program in Bangladesh
Child Survival Program in Burundi
Child Survival Program in Haiti
Child Survival Program in Rwanda
Child Survival Program in Niger
LINKS
Baseline Survey of the Rwanda Community Distribution of Anti-Malarials Pilot Program, Concern Worldwide, International Rescue Committee, World Relief, CORE Child Survival Collaborations and Research Group, August 2004
Concern Worldwide Rwanda Child Survival Program, Final Evaluation Report, October 2006
Concern Worldwide Commitment to Clinton Global Initiative, “Urban Health for the Poor in Bangladesh & Haiti”
The CORE Group
“Developing Urban Health Systems in Bangladesh,” by Dipankar Datta, Michelle Kouletio, and Taifur Rahman of Concern Worldwide, Participatory Learning and Action 51, April 2005
Global Health Council
"Reducing Smoke, Improving Child Health, Niall Roche and Subir Kamar Saha," Concern Worldwide, Health Exchange, May 2006
US Coalition on Child Survival