(July 1, 2009) — On the Day of the African Child, Save the Children organised major international activities in order to put pressure on African leaders and build a mass movement of people. Advocates for children worldwide called on G8 leaders to make maternal and child survival in Africa a top priority at their summit meeting in Italy in July.

An estimated 4.5 million children under 5 die each year in Africa, including more than 1 million who do not survive the first 28 days of life, a report issued by Save the Children noted. Most of these deaths in Africa are due to preventable and treatable causes that rarely claim the lives of children in the world's richest countries.  

On June 16, an estimated 150,000 people took part across Africa, Europe and North America. In 13 African countries, Save the Children worked in partnership with national governments, civil society groups and a wide range of international and national nongovernmental organizations to hold activities that focused on increasing awareness of the issues of newborn and child survival.  

       
 

In Burkina Faso, a film of children from the 25 schools Save the Children supports was shown at a national ceremony in Banfora, with partner organisations. See the photos here 

In Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, we showed a new film with Olympic gold medal winner Meseret Defar helping celebrate the country's recent gains in child survival. See the photos here 

In Liberia, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf voiced her support for the campaign and public marches took place in Monrovia and across all 15 counties, with a target of 10,000 people taking part in ‘Make Your Mark’ thumbprint action at the marches and through health facilities. See the photos here   

In Malawi, two daily newspapers published articles on Save the Children’s programmes for newborn children. 

In Mali, Dr. Houleymata, staff member of Save the Children, made a presentation to the Prime Minister of Mali, all the Government and the National Assembly about child survival in Mali. The event was very successful as the Prime Minister and the entire Government “made their mark” on the banner. See the photos here 

In Mozambique, we showcased the policy report ‘Opportunities for Africa’s Newborns’ with key decision makers and the media.  

In Nigeria, Members of the Children’s Parliament met the National Assembly to propose a Newborn and Child Survival resolution. Other events such as a children’s parade and a radio talk show with children, NGOs and government officials were also organised. See the photos here 

In Sierra Leone, children’s marches were organised in several cities and national radio programmes featured shows discussing access to health care for mothers and children under 5. See the photos here   

In South Africa, at least 100 schools took part in a lesson on newborn and child survival and will take part in ‘Make Your Mark’ activities over the course of the month. See the photos here 

In Tanzania, we distributed leaflets with messages on Maternal and Newborn Health amongst audiences at events and to member of local communities. See the photos here 

In Uganda, events focused on promoting universal access to community based prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS services, including dance, drama, poems and testimonies by communities and organizations offering the service at community level. 

In UK, there was an event outside the Parliament for Members of Parliament and supporters to launch “Make Your Mark” and raise awareness of our calls on child survival. Watch the video on Youtube. See the photos here 

In United States, Save the Children partnered with the African Union, African diplomatic corps and US Coalition for Child Survival to hold a panel and discuss the situation in several African countries, with the personal support of Ethiopian-American fashion model Liya-Kebede. See the photos here