Frequently Asked Questions

About taking action and why it’s necessary: Why do we need to raise our hands?

Unfortunately, politicians aren’t doing enough – and women and children across the globe are still dying from preventable causes. You need to raise your hand to make sure your voice is heard and your support is counted. World Vision will use your campaign actions to remind world leaders that they need to act now. By demonstrating mass public support, we can show that improving maternal and child health is an urgent and crucial concern for millions of people around the globe. This public pressure can create real change on national, regional and international levels.

Leaders need to be reminded of their commitments to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals made in 2000 and the 2010 United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, known as Every Woman Every Child. Both the MDGs and the UN Strategy have targets to improve women’s and children’s health that need to be met by 2015. The MDGs, in particular, are significantly off track.

What happened during the last Global Week of Action?

In 2012, the Child Health Now campaign held its first Global Week of Action. During that week over 2 million people called on leaders and governments to take action to help all children have the opportunity to ‘Survive 5’. A wide range of change-makers joined events, including a king and president, ministers for health, members of parliament, celebrities, influential political figures like Dr Margaret Chan from the World Health Organization, and campaigners in dozens of countries.

A good example of action taken at a global level was the presentation of a Global Week of Action photo book to Andris Piebalgs, the European Union commissioner for development, by the World Vision International Brussels advocacy team. Mr Piebalgs took the opportunity to pledge his own support to the campaign, stating that he understood the scale of the challenge and believed that children were too often marginalised from the current development architecture. The team then held a discussion with Mr Piebalgs on the issues of child participation in the post- MDG process and other issues including health, food and nutrition security.

At a national level many offices have used the support from the 2012 Global Week of Action to strengthen their advocacy efforts with national governments and decision makers. World Vision India held over 3,600 events during the 2012 Global Week of Action. Through face-to-face actions and media coverage it is estimated to have reached over 63 million people. The Global Week of Action also allowed World Vision to strengthen its links with external partners and develop relationships with new ones. GAVI, GAIN Alliance, SUN Movement and 1,000 Days were all involved in the 2012 Global Week of Action.

Will my action make a difference?

Yes! History has shown that when a mass of people speaks out together leaders must listen. Examples include the abolitionist movement in Britain in the eighteenth century, more recently Nelson Mandela and apartheid in South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi in India and many more. By participating in the Child Health Now campaign you are joining a movement of millions of people around the world who want a fairer deal for mothers and children.

What is a ‘hand-in’?

When we talk about a hand-in, we mean a specific meeting or activity organised to share the results of the Global Week of Action with national leaders in a country. In addition to sharing the results and demonstrating public support for action on maternal, newborn and child health, these meetings will allow you to present specific calls to action to leaders in your context. These calls to action should be in line with your overall Child Health Now strategy, plan and objectives. They should be developed as you plan your involvement in the Global Week of Action.

Has progress been made?

Yes! In 1990, about 12.5 million children under 5 died from preventable causes. Now that figure is 6.6 million. While we have made progress, there is obviously much more to be done.