Save a Child's Heart Switzerland

Ambassador Leshno-Yaar
Chairwoman Dayan
Honoured guests

It is a pleasure to welcome you here today. I thank the Permanent Mission of Israel for their instrumental role in organizing this event. We are also particularly honoured by the presence of Tel Aviv Council Chair Yael Dayan and the practitioners of Save a Child’s Heart.

Article 6 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child commits States to “ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.” The Convention goes on to stress every child’s right to “the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health.” Unfortunately, this is too rarely a reality.

Children represent the future. Ensuring their healthy growth and development must be a primary concern of all societies. We can therefore spare no effort when it comes to improving child health. Significant progress has been made in recent years, thanks to focused and dedicated work on the Millennium Development Goals. Child deaths are falling: the number of children under five years old dying each year declined from more than 12 million in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010. This means that compared to 1990, around 12,000 more children’s lives are saved each day.

This is important progress, but we cannot be complacent. One in eight children in sub-Saharan Africa still die before reaching the age of five. About two-thirds of child deaths are preventable through practical, low-cost interventions, and the World Health Organization is advancing child health by helping countries to deliver integrated, effective care starting with a healthy pregnancy for the mother, through birth and care up to five years of age.

The UN system in Geneva, and in particular the Human Rights Council, has played an instrumental role in advancing the rights of the child. In his action agenda for the coming five years, the Secretary-General has called on us to unlock the potential of current and future generations through accelerated work on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. This critical challenge requires focused work by the United Nations, but also a global commitment to improving child health. Our partnerships with civil society are crucial in this regard. So I am particularly pleased to participate in this event with dedicated people who are on the front-line of saving children’s lives.

The recently gained status as an organization with consultative status in ECOSOC provides a useful tool to share your experiences. The United Nations Office at Geneva stands ready to support the efforts for children through this mechanism. Through voluntary work, the medical team of Save a Child’s Heart is helping to give children around the world, regardless of background, a future. I applaud your work and I thank you for your contribution to the global effort to improve child health.