In commemoration of Mother’s Day, Save the Children is publishing its 15th annual State of the World’s Mothers report. The focus is on millions of women and children living in fragile communities beset by conflict and natural disasters, and their everyday struggle to survive. More than 60 million women and children are in need of humanitarian assistance this year. Over half of maternal and child deaths worldwide occur in crisis-affected places; still the majority of these deaths are preventable. In this report, Save the Children examines the causes of maternal and child deaths in crisis settings, and suggests urgent actions needed to support mothers who are raising the world’s future generations under some of the most difficult and horrific circumstances imaginable.

Civil rights of children are probably the least understood rights and most challenging to realize. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the first international human rights instrument to explicitly recognize civil rights of children. The CRC specifically provides for civil rights and freedoms. In conjunction with the general principles of non-discrimination; best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child.

“OVERWHELMED WITH GRIEF”
Shefali, who lives in a village in Bangladesh, has given birth to six children, but three died within a week of being born. She gave birth at home each time, without medical assistance.  Shefali lives in an isolated community in Sylhet that is surrounded by water or swamps for most of the year, and she says it takes five or six hours to get to the nearest
doctor. Shefali and her husband say that they couldn’t afford the costs involved, and there would be no one to look after their other children.

SUCCESS AND CHALLENGES IN ENDING PREVENTABLE CHILD DEATHS

In the last generation there have been remarkable
improvements in children’s chances of survival – thanks
to concerted efforts by local communities, national
governments, donors and international agencies. The
number of children dying every year has almost halved
since 1990 – down from 12 million to 6.6 million in 2012
– with 90 million children prevented from dying over
that period. And 25 countries have achieved Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) 4 – a two-thirds reduction in
under-five mortality rates – ahead of the 2015 deadline.
But there’s no room for complacency. E