Of Child, Mother and Environment

8 Goals, 18 Targets, 2015 Deadline! This perfectly fits the description of the Millennium Development Goals. In September 2000, heads of governments gathered in New York, the home of the United Nations to hold what became known as the Millennium Summit.

In what has been labeled the UN Millennium Declaration, the august body of governments the world over decided to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger while advocating social reforms such as gender equality, education, environmental focus and coordinated development.

In a report by the Millennium Project, headed by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have been best explained as follows: “The Millennium Development Goals are the world's time-bound and quantified targets for addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions—income, poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter, and exclusion—while promoting gender equality, education, and environmental sustainability. They are also basic human rights—the rights of each person on the planet to health, education, shelter, and security as pledged in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Millennium Declaration”. Eight goals have been outlined, eighteen targets set and a 2015 deadline agreed upon. Permit me to outline the eight goals:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

The focus of this article is on goals 4, 5 and 7; an attempt to draw useful links between children, their mothers and the environment in which they live.

Somewhere in the world today, a child will be born. The arrival of that child into this world will be met with joy and jubilation by the parents and immediate family members. His/Her parents would nurture him/her as any parent would and lots of expectations will be held in relation to the child's future. But to be born a child in today's world is to face the odds of dying before the age of five. In Sub-Saharan Africa, that child faces 11% odds of dying before the age of five, in Southern Asia, 6% and 0.6% in the developed world. The picture in Sub-Saharan Africa is bad as 1 in every 9 children dies before the age of five (5). These child mortality figures have been released in a 2012 report by the UN Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

One would like to ask the factors responsible for child deaths? The causes are as basic and fundamental as they can get, because they are all around us. The leading causes of death among children under age five are pneumonia (18% of all under-five deaths); preterm birth complications (14%); diarrhoea (11%); intra-partum related complications (complications during birth; 9%); and malaria (7%). Globally, more than a third of under-five deaths are attributable to undernutrition.

Twelve years have passed since the world leaders committed to reducing by two-thirds under-five child mortality, and with barely three years to the 2015 deadline, a lot is being asked about the progress made so far. 2011 figures released in 2012 indicate that the world has made remarkable progress by reducing the under-five child mortality rate by 41 percent, from 87 (85, 89) deaths per thousand births in 1990 to 51 (51, 55) in 2011. This progress may however not be enough as the likelihood of missing the target reduction of 66.7% by 2015 is very high. More investments in terms of resources (funds, advocacy and efforts) have to be directed towards improving livelihoods and uplifting health infrastructure around the world, most especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The problem in this African region is more related to malnutrition and deplorable health infrastructure, which are all linked to Goal 1: eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.

One cannot talk about a child without the mother; the mother is inextricably linked to the child, and is something no one can dispute. It therefore follows that the child and the mother have to be in perfect health to ensure coordinated development. In this light, MDG 5 of improving maternal health is very timely. The target of this goal is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters (75%) by 2015. According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), almost 800 women die every day in pregnancy or childbirth. Where are we in achieving the target of 75% reduction with barely three years to the deadline? In 2008, maternal mortality was estimated as 251 per 100,000 live births. Why should a life be lost whilst giving birth to another? Cases of maternal mortality sometimes come with child mortality; both child and mother dying. This is very frightening.

How do we improve the health of pregnant women preparing for delivery? All women should have access to contraception to avoid unintended pregnancies. There should be free and accessible antenatal and postnatal services incorporated into health regimes in the various countries, especially in Africa, where the statistics is horrific. Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) should be well trained and equipped to handle deliveries to ensure that child and mother are kept alive. Also, transport systems should be improved to ensure timely conveyance of pregnant women due for delivery to hospitals, clinics, health centres and also operating quarters of TBAs. Ultimately, most of these panaceas are rooted in economic development and improvement in the standard of living of the people. Let us all root for Safe Motherhood: No woman should die giving life.

In what environment will the child and mother live? Is it one of progress, extreme cleanliness with emphasis on protection and sustainability or is it one of filth, degradation and destruction? MDG 7 which preaches environmental sustainability outlines the following targets:

(a) Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources by 2015
(b) Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015
(c) Make a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020

Environmental issues center on waste management, forest protection and clean communities. Whilst efforts are being made to meet the various targets, those efforts seem not enough. We have to commit to practices such as efficient waste disposal and management, afforestation, discouragement of slums by providing adequate housing, etc. which ensure environmental sustainability.

Our children, mothers and the environment at large must be saved. Where will the salvation come from? It surely will spring from amongst ourselves as we commit to eliminating extreme poverty, provision of adequate health infrastructure and services, rolling back preventable diseases and being advocates of a better, sustainable and progressive environment.

Paul Edem Kuenyefu, a Development Enthusiast is an Entrepreneur, Writer and Motivational Speaker. He is the author of 'TO THE ZENITH', a motivational piece.
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