Caregiver Behavior Change for Child Survival and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Examination of the Evidence

In June of 2012, representatives from more than 80 countries promulgated a Child Survival Call to Action, which called for reducing child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035. To address the problem of ending preventable child deaths, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Children’s Fund convened, on June 3–4, 2013, an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Child Survival and Development in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries by Achieving Population-Level Behavior Change. Six evidence review teams were established on different topics related to child survival and healthy development to identify the relevant evidence-based interventions and to prepare reports. This article was developed by the evidence review team responsible for identifying the research literature on caregiver change for child survival and development. This article is organized into childhood developmental periods and cross-cutting issues that affect child survival and healthy early development across all these periods. On the basis of this review, the authors present evidence-based recommendations for programs focused on caregivers to increase child survival and promote healthy development. Last, promising directions for future research to change caregivers’ behaviors are given

Caregiver Behavior Change for Child Survival and Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Examination of the Evidence

In June of 2012, representatives from more than 80 countries promulgated a Child Survival Call to Action, which called for reducing child mortality to 20 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births in every country by 2035. To address the problem of ending preventable child deaths, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations Children’s Fund convened, on June 3–4, 2013, an Evidence Summit on Enhancing Child Survival and Development in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries by Achieving Population-Level Behavior Change. Six evidence review teams were established on different topics related to child survival and healthy development to identify the relevant evidence-based interventions and to prepare reports. This article was developed by the evidence review team responsible for identifying the research literature on caregiver change for child survival and development. This article is organized into childhood developmental periods and cross-cutting issues that affect child survival and healthy early development across all these periods. On the basis of this review, the authors present evidence-based recommendations for programs focused on caregivers to increase child survival and promote healthy development. Last, promising directions for future research to change caregivers’ behaviors are given

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Achieving results for Pacific Island children: UNICEF's analysis of and response to Pacific Millennium Development Goal progress

The Pacific Island countries are home to some 2 million people, of whom just over 900,000 are under 18 years of age (UNICEF, 2007). In this article I briefly review the progress Pacific Island countries have made towards their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), with a particular focus on MDG4 (reduce child mortality) and MDG5 (improve maternal health). I then highlight some of the support being provided by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in partnership with many agencies across the region to assist countries to advance their child-related MDGs. Finally, I consider some of the challenges to sustaining MDG progress for children in Pacific Island countries, especially the current global economic crisis

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Fit for Children Network – A Concept Note

Children’s rights matter in Small Island Development States (SIDS), where high levels of social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities co-exist. In 2007, a UNICEF organizational review expanded upon the recommendation that UNICEF should further invest in strategic thinking, knowledge management, and continued learning for enhanced programme results. Building on this recommendation, the UNICEF Offices in the Eastern Caribbean and Pacific have initiated dialogue on the establishment of a “Community of Practice” to share experiences and create learning opportunities for UNICEF as well as respective country and sub-regional partners. The paper outlines how both UNICEF offices, with support from their respective regional offices, can jointly focus on the progressive fulfilment of children’s rights in SIDS, building on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, but also on the Mauritius Strategy, thematic exchanges and joint short and long term results.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Fit for Children Network – A Concept Note

Children’s rights matter in Small Island Development States (SIDS), where high levels of social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities co-exist. In 2007, a UNICEF organizational review expanded upon the recommendation that UNICEF should further invest in strategic thinking, knowledge management, and continued learning for enhanced programme results. Building on this recommendation, the UNICEF Offices in the Eastern Caribbean and Pacific have initiated dialogue on the establishment of a “Community of Practice” to share experiences and create learning opportunities for UNICEF as well as respective country and sub-regional partners. The paper outlines how both UNICEF offices, with support from their respective regional offices, can jointly focus on the progressive fulfilment of children’s rights in SIDS, building on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, but also on the Mauritius Strategy, thematic exchanges and joint short and long term results.

Gender, mosquitoes and malaria: implications for community development programs

Abstract. This paper examines the gender roles linked to division of labor and potential exposure to mosquitos and malaria prevention activities

From divergence to convergence: re-evaluating the history behind China’s economic boom

China’s long-term economic dynamics pose a formidable challenge to economic historians. The Qing Empire (1644-1911), the world’s largest national economy prior to the 19th century, experienced a tripling of population during the 17th and 18th centuries with no signs of diminishing per capita income. In some regions, the standard of living may have matched levels recorded in advanced regions of Western Europe. However, with the Industrial Revolution a vast gap emerged between newly rich industrial nations and China’s lagging economy. Only with an unprecedented growth spurt beginning in the late 1970s has the gap separating China from the global leaders been substantially diminished, and China regained its former standing among the world’s largest economies. This essay develops an integrated framework for understanding this entire history, including both the long period of divergence and the more recent convergent trend. The analysis sets out to explain how deeply embedded political and economic institutions that had contributed to a long process of extensive growth subsequently prevented China from capturing the benefits associated with new technologies and information arising from the Industrial Revolution. During the 20th century, the gradual erosion of these historic constraints and of new obstacles created by socialist planning eventually opened the door to China’s current boom. Our analysis links China’s recent economic development to important elements of its past, while using the success of the last three decades to provide fresh perspectives on the critical obstacles undermining earlier modernization efforts, and their removal over the last century and a half