For every woman, every child, everywhere: a universal agenda for the health of women, children, and adolescents

Abstract

Preventable mortality and morbidity among women, adolescents, and children are severe in humanitarian settings. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on 50 fragile states show that 60% of preventable maternal deaths, 53% of deaths in children younger than 5 years, and 45% of neonatal deaths take place in fragile settings of conflict, displacement, and natural disasters. 1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentStates of fragility 2015: meeting post-2015 ambitions. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris2015 Google Scholar , 2 WHOUNICEFUNFPAWorld BankUnited Nations Population DivisionTrends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2013. Estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank and United Nations Population Division. World Health Organization, Geneva2014 Google Scholar , 3 UNICEFWHOWorld BankUNUN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality EstimationLevels and trends in child mortality report 2014: estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation. United Nations Children's Fund, New York2014 Google Scholar Worldwide, women and children are up to 14 times more likely than men to die in a disaster. 4 Plan InternationalBecause I am a girl: the state of the world's girls 2013. In double jeopardy: adolescent girls and disasters. Plan International, Surrey, UK2013 Google Scholar