ADDIS ABABA / NEW YORK / WASHINGTON D.C. -  Since 1990, the number of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa has dropped by 39%. Many African countries are within reach of the 2015 millennium development goal to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds. Yet even with the availability of proven, inexpensive, high-impact interventions for maternal, newborn, and child health, their adoption is slow and high rates of childhood illness and death persist in a number of countries. In sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 8 children die before they reach their fifth birthday.

In an effort to catalyze global action for child survival, the Governments of Ethiopia, India, and the United States together with UNICEF convened the ‘Child Survival Call to Action’ in Washington, D.C. in June 2012.http://www.apromiserenewed.org/index.html. Under the banner of 'Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed', more than 160 governments signed a pledge to renew their commitment to child survival, to eliminate all preventable child mortality in two decades.

To maintain this momentum, the Government of Ethiopia, and former Minister of Health Tedros Adhanom, whose leadership raised Ethiopia’s profile in child survival in the continent, committed to convene the ‘African Leadership for Child Survival—A Promise Renewed’ Meeting January 16-18, 2013, in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union. Ministers of Health from 54 African countries have been invited to come together with peers and global experts to ensure child survival is at the forefront of the social development agendas across the continent and renew the focus of African leaders to head their own country’s efforts and sustain the gains made over the last two decades.

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