Devex: Opinion: Now more than ever, DFID must lead efforts to end preventable child deaths
Kirtbir Chahal, policy adviser at UNICEF U.K.

“…Without radical action, 53 countries — predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa — are set to fall short of their SDG commitment to end preventable deaths of newborns and children under the age of 5. … World leaders need to act with renewed urgency and ambition. And who better to drive that change than the U.K. Department for International Development? The U.K. has long been a leader in global health, using aid to ensure children can survive and thrive, and the coming two years offer a fantastic opportunity to build on DFID’s technical expertise and leverage its soft power for good. Encouragingly, the U.K.’s secretary of state for international development, Alok Sharma, has announced that U.K. aid will prioritize investments to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns, and children by 2030. But we continue to await details on how that will be done in practice. To show how the U.K. can use the next two years to build on its long history of leadership in child health, UNICEF U.K.’s new report, ‘Ending Preventable Child Deaths: How Britain Can Lead the Way,’ sets a road map for action on five priority issues hindering progress on child mortality…” (1/29).