Common dreams
Home » Blog » Sarah Heeringa » Common dreamsDr Anne Scott and her team oversee ChildFund International’s child and youth development programmes across 31 countries. The aim? Making a real and lasting positive difference in their lives.
What drives you to work in international aid and development?
I'm passionate about the future of this world, for my own young children, my nieces and nephews, and for the many smiling, smart and hopeful children I have been privileged to meet on my extensive travels. They all have common dreams, and their mothers all have common dreams for them – whether or not these always match up between children and their mothers! Mothers in Angola, Timor, and Honduras – or wherever – want the same things for their children that I do for my own boys.
I know the key to all of our children’s futures lies in their ability to address challenges, both globally and locally. You and I can help set them up – now – to develop these abilities.
How has the global financial crisis affected children and ChildFund’s work?
Whenever families are faced with financial crisis, whether its roots are local or global, children are disproportionately affected. This can take many forms, from their parents being absent for more time because they have to travel over larger distances, in search of work – to having to drop out of school, go without meals, go to work, or adopt – too soon – adult responsibilities.
The crisis has also resulted in food shortages, inflationary prices, and increased pressure for economic migration, and so we have to adapt our programme activities quickly and appropriately to meet changed circumstances and increased needs.
Mothers in Angola, Timor, and Honduras – or wherever – want the same things for their children that I do for my own boys.
We also see the effects of the crisis on our donors, who remain committed but have to reduce their donations.
There are many needs in the developing world, why is maternal health so important?
A woman in a developing country is 300 times more likely to die in childbirth than a woman in a developed country. Each year more than half a million women worldwide die from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, and nearly 4 million newborns die within 28 days of birth. This does not need to happen.
Millions more suffer – unnecessarily - from disability, disease, infection and injury. The gap in risk of maternal death between the industrialised world and the many developing countries, particularly the least developed, is often termed ‘the greatest health divide in the world’. Cost effective solutions are available and could bring rapid improvements.
What is ChildFund doing to improve maternal health?
ChildFund is working actively with government and community partners in a number of countries to address maternal health threats and opportunities. One example is in Senegal where we have set up health huts which serve remote communities. More than 1,000 health workers and birth attendants have been trained and provided with delivery kits so that mothers and children can access a wide array of health services right in their community.
ChildFund New Zealand is currently focusing on a programme to provide adequate nutrition to mothers in Kenya and Zambia because then mothers are in better health and babies are born with higher birth weights giving them a much better chance of survival.
What can New Zealanders do to help?
- You can help save the lives of millions of mothers and babies by becoming advocates for aid, lobbying world governments to do more for mothers
- Making a donation to ChildFund New Zealand’s Mother and Baby Appeal
