Kevin Jenkins MDG thoughts

Ahead of tomorrow’s global strategy launch with Ban Ki-moon and Melinda Gates, World Vision International’s CEO, Kevin Jenkins, writes about the MDG issues that matter most.

Turkana in north-western Kenya is beset by drought and tribal conflict. Here I met Alitea whose husband was killed in a cattle raid and survived on pennies a day by selling scraps of firewood. She provided a meagre existence for her six children, but was effectively helpless if they needed health care.

Kenya is regressing when it comes to child health care. They are not alone: other countries are also falling behind. The global result is that in the two minutes it takes to read this column, 30 children under the age of five will die—needlessly. Every day, 24,000 small children die from preventable causes. Over the course of a year, the number of health-related child deaths worldwide is a staggering 8.8 million. Almost all could have been saved at very little cost.

The reason for this tragic state of affairs is simple. Up to now, there has been a shameful lack of political will to carry through on repeated promises to help the world’s helpless and most at risk.

Secretary-General Ban’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, to be considered at the summit on September 22, asks the OECD donor countries to contribute an additional US$4 billion collectively each year for women’s and children’s health. That is less than 10 per cent of what the world spends on pet food.

The developing nations are expected to spend at least 15 per cent of their budgets on health care. They must also show political leadership to ensure that health care is delivered equitably, not on the basis of income or geography. World Vision has pledged $1.5 billion over five years to support this effort.

Despite legitimate concerns about the global economic recovery, the lives of the most vulnerable should not be subject to political trade-offs. These are issues that require real leadership. On September 22, presidents, prime ministers and rulers from around the world must demonstrate that they are up to the challenge.