Child Survival: Belgian Senate Seminar, UNICEF Belgium and AWEPA, 31 March 2009

Child Survival: Belgian Senate Seminar, UNICEF Belgium and AWEPA, 31 March 2009

A seminar was held in the Belgian Senate on Child Survival on 31 March 2009. The seminar was initiated by Hon. Sabine de Bethune, Belgium Senator and Head of the AWEPA section in the Belgian Parliament, and organised by the Belgian Senate in cooperation with AWEPA and UNICEF Belgium.

The main objectives of the seminar were:

To increase the political will. In particular to increase parliamentary action for Child Survival to become a priority on the political agenda.
To scale up parliamentary activities and initiatives needed to decrease child mortality and realise MDG # 4. Special attention was given to the situation in Sub-Sahara Africa, the region with the highest child mortality rate in the world.

During the first panel on the current situation of child survival, experts Dr. Renée van de Weerdt of UNICEF and Prof. Patrick Kolsteren of the Tropical Institute Antwerpen, gave keynote speeches. They addressed the challenges and bottlenecks regarding child survival worldwide, and recognized malnutrition as one of the main causes of child mortality.

In the second session, moderated by Hon. Miet Smet, Senator and AWEPA Vice-President, the participants focused on the situation in Africa. Experts from Benin, Democratic Republic Congo, Mozambique and Mali spoke about the role of the government, best practices and the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene on the survival of children. Dr. Karel Gyselinck of the Belgium Technical Cooperation addressed Belgian development policy regarding health care.

Minister of Development cooperation Charles Michel closed the seminar followed by a reception.

For more information, see the weblog of Ms. Sabine de Bethune, Head of Belgian Section.

pdf Agenda