Health
The right to health, guaranteed to all minors by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is among the least respected. In 2018, almost 6.5 million children and adolescents died from mostly preventable causes. 5.3 million of them were under 5 years old, and half of these were newborns. For Terre des Hommes, strengthening maternal and child health has always been a key objective in the countries where it operates, which often have inadequate healthcare systems or systems accessible only for a fee.
Preventing avoidable deaths
Ensuring a safe delivery, prenatal and postnatal visits, growth monitoring, and a vaccination plan in line with World Health Organization guidelines. These actions, included in our maternal and child health projects, help prevent thousands of avoidable deaths among newborns and young children. For example, in Ivory Coast, we have cooperated for decades with the Ministry of Health to train midwives, doctors, and health workers, equip delivery rooms, and provide kits for difficult deliveries to the poorest mothers. In Jordan, we provide mobile clinics and outpatient clinics for pregnant women and Syrian refugee mothers.
Fight against malnutrition
At least 200 million children worldwide suffer from malnutrition, which stunts their development and undermines their health even as adults. Poverty, conflicts, natural disasters, and climate change make access to food difficult for the most vulnerable populations. This is why our humanitarian interventions provide concrete help to children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers by distributing nutritional supplements, fortified foods, and specialized medical visits. For years in Mauritania, in collaboration with the local Ministry of Health, we have carried out projects to combat child malnutrition in the most hard-to-reach areas. In northern Syria, we have implemented similar interventions due to the high percentage of malnourished children among refugees. In all our child sponsorship programs, we hold meetings with parents to discuss nutritional principles and the importance of a balanced diet, even with inexpensive ingredients.
Hygiene and access to water
Many childhood diseases are due to poor hygiene resulting from a lack of water, inadequate sanitation facilities, and improper cleaning habits. In all our projects, we pay particular attention to this aspect by renovating or constructing sanitary facilities in schools and private homes and improving access to safe water. Moreover, we conduct awareness campaigns on the importance of personal hygiene with teachers, parents, and children. This is particularly important in the case of epidemics, from cholera, which is still common in less developed countries, to major threats like Ebola and Covid-19.
On the side of the disabled
Inadequate healthcare systems, conflicts, and natural disasters increase the likelihood of being born with or developing a disability. Terre des Hommes provides specialized healthcare services for disabled children, including physiotherapy, aids and prosthetics, and, where possible, surgical operations to improve their quality of life. From refugee camps in Iraq to Syria, Libya, and Palestine, we have identified and assisted thousands of cases from the most vulnerable groups, offering them a new outlook on life.