The Countdown country profiles present in one place the latest evidence to assess country progress in improving women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health. The profiles, including an interactive version of them and all associated data, can be found by viewing the latest country profile data.
Access to safe and voluntary family planning is an inalienable human right that
cannot be denied. In 2022, UNFPA continued to work with Government and partners
to make this a reality in Namibia by providing strategic support to the national family
planning programme and ensuring universal access ...to quality services for all.
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It was a difficult time to be a child in 2024. With deepening violent conflict, climate shocks and poverty, children faced skyrocketing needs while the resources to respond continued to shrink.
But as this year’s Annual Report shows, across more than 190 countries and territories, UNICEF was t...here, saving and uplifting the lives of millions of children – even in the hardest-to-reach places. Together with our partners, we delivered clean water and sanitation, protection and psychosocial support, health, nutrition, and immunization services, and education and skills development.
The world in 2025 continues to be one of significant political shifts and volatility, economic uncertainty and deepening humanitarian crises. To succeed, UNICEF must be at its best.
But announced and anticipated funding cuts are limiting UNICEF’s ability to reach millions of children in dire need. These new cuts are creating a global funding crisis that will put the lives of millions of additional children at risk.
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This comic booklet introduces malaria and the mosquitoes that carry it in Africa. Through simple explanations and illustrations, it teaches readers about the habitats of mosquitoes, the species that transmit malaria and how ongoing research may lead to new ways of controlling them in the future. The... booklet is designed to help communities better understand malaria and support efforts to combat it.
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Accessed June 2025. This document outlines the Ministry of Health's management guidelines for malaria in pregnancy in Uganda. Pregnant women without malaria symptoms receive intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) as directly observed therapy (DOT),... starting from the second trimester with monthly doses until delivery, except for HIV-positive mothers on cotrimoxazole.
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El año 2024 fue especialmente difícil para la infancia. Los conflictos cada vez más violentos, las conmociones climáticas y la pobreza provocaron un aumento drástico de las necesidades de los niños y niñas, justo cuando los recursos necesarios para atenderlas se reducían de forma constante. ...
Pese a todo, tal como muestra este Informe anual, UNICEF mantuvo su presencia en más de 190 países y territorios, donde protegió y salvó la vida a millones de niños y niñas incluso en los lugares más remotos. En colaboración con nuestros aliados, suministramos agua salubre e instalaciones de saneamiento, brindamos protección y apoyo psicosocial y prestamos servicios de salud, nutrición, inmunización, educación y capacitación.
En 2025, el panorama mundial sigue estando presidido por cambios políticos importantes, volatilidad, incertidumbre económica y crisis humanitarias cada vez más graves. Si queremos rendir frutos, UNICEF debe dar lo mejor de sí.
Pero los recortes en la financiación –los que ya se han anunciado y los que hay previstos– están limitando la capacidad de UNICEF para llegar a millones de niños y niñas en situación de extrema necesidad. Estos nuevos recortes están generando una crisis mundial de financiación que pondrá en peligro la vida de millones de niños y niñas más.
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Older children play a crucial role in preventing malaria by encouraging the use of insecticide-treated bed nets and preventing mosquito breeding. They also support younger children during illness by assisting with nutrition and recovery activities. Recent advancements include the introduction of a m...alaria vaccine in some regions. Educational initiatives empower children to learn, create and share key malaria messages through storytelling, posters and campaigns, thereby fostering community awareness and action.
Accessed July 2025
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SuperBetter Children is a health and wellbeing curriculum designed to be integrated into school programmes or offered as an extracurricular activity.
This document outlines key health messages for children and their caregivers, with a focus on the prevention and early treatment of common illnesses. Topics covered include malaria, diarrhoea, malnutrition, respiratory infections, intestinal worms, HIV/AIDS and accident prevention. The importance of... insecticide-treated nets, oral rehydration salts (ORS), breastfeeding, immunisation, hygiene, access to clean water, deworming and emotional care for child development is also emphasised. The practical advice provided helps families to create safer and healthier environments, and to recognise when medical help is needed.
Accessed on 15/07/2025.
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The '100 Health Messages for Children to Learn & Share' is an educational resource developed by Children for Health. It is aimed at children aged 8–14, particularly young adolescents (aged 10–14), who often care for younger siblings. The set contains 100 simple, accurate and adaptable health mes...sages, with 10 messages on each of the following topics: Malaria, diarrhoea, nutrition, coughs and colds, intestinal worms, water and sanitation, immunisation, HIV and AIDS, accidents and injuries, and early childhood development. The messages have been reviewed by medical and education experts and are designed for use by parents, teachers and health workers in schools, homes, clinics and clubs. The resource encourages active learning through memorisation, discussion, and creative activities, empowering children to become health educators in their communities.
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The 'Mosquito Bite Prevention Poster – Kids' is an educational public health resource designed to teach children how to protect themselves from mosquito bites. Using clear, simple instructions and visual cues, the poster engages young audiences by emphasising practical prevention strategies, such ...as correctly applying insect repellent, wearing protective clothing and avoiding standing water where mosquitoes breed. This tool serves as a preventive guide for children and caregivers alike, encouraging health-conscious behaviours within the community.
Accessed on 27/08/2025.
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Every two minutes, a child under the age of 5 dies from malaria. Under-five children accounted for 67 per cent of all malaria deaths worldwide in 2018. Most of them occurred in sub-Saharan Africa where an estimated 24 million children were infected with its deadliest form. In addition to being the t...hird-deadliest infectious disease for children, malaria infection and the costs of treatment traps families in a cycle of illness, suffering and poverty.This year’s World Malaria Day is marred by the emergence of the COVID-19 outbreak, which further threatens people’s lives and well-being. Public health officials are taking precautionary and often aggressive measures to limit transmission of this virus, including reductions in social movement, physical distancing, hand-washing and recommending the use of personal protection equipment in high-risk settings. However, while focusing on combating this disease, the world cannot afford to ignore other diseases, such as malaria.
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In the absence of a such a measure, and building on the success of developing the APCA African
Palliative Outcome Scale (POS) for adults, the African Palliative Care Association has developed the
APCA African Children’s POS. The tool has been validated across diseases, countries, settings and ...
languages and used in both quality improvement and research studies. Moreover, feedback on the
tool from doctors and nurses who have used it has been very supportive, with providers perceiving
it as an easy-to-use instrument that helps them undertake holistic assessments that in part entail
discussing difficult issues.
This booklet is a practical guide intended to help users employ the APCA African POS correctly.
Following a discussion of the origins and background to the APCA African PPOS, the guide discusses
the measurement of outcomes, the development of the tool and its use (including the analysis of
collected data), before finishing with illustrative examples of the use of the questionnaire.
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India has the largest number of
child brides in the world — one
third of the global total.1
Yet, recent data indicates that
in the last decade there has
been a significant decline in the
prevalence of child marriage
from 47 per cent to 27 per cent
of the proportion of women aged
20-24 yea...rs who were married
before age 18 from 2005/2006
to 2015/2016.2 Child marriage
among young men and boys has
also seen a positive change.
National and state averages,
however, mask realities at the
district level, and despite the
overall decline, a few districts
continue to have very high rates
of child marriage. (Child marriage
rates among women in a few
districts of Rajasthan and Bihar,
continue to be in the range of 47
per cent to 51 per cent).
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The booklet includes a number of child protection case management forms to be used in tandem with the Training Manual and Framework.
ts goals are to ensure that:
Children and parents experience fewer conflicts;
Parents make better decisions about the care of their children and are better able to solve problems; and
Children feel more supported by their families to further their education and make good decisions a...nd healthy life choices.
This discussion guide is intended to facilitate discussion and peer learning, during which participants can learn from each other’s experiences and support each other. It is designed for group session discussions, as well as for one-on-one guidance in the home. It should be used with the "Better Parenting Nigeria" Facilitator’s Manual
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Case management is an approach at the core of social work. Case management is the process required for improving the quality of life for vulnerable children in need of care and protection. This manual is intended to support social workers in their case management role and reduce overall workload by ...ensuring case management processes are conducted efficiently with best outcomes for children.
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This five-day child protection case management training manual was developed to meet the needs of community child protection workers and other social workers working in tandem with the justice, health and law enforcement systems in Malawi.
India | The ‘Standard Operating Procedures for Care, Protection and Rehabilitation of Children in Street Situations’, is a unique endeavour to streamline the processes and interventions regarding Children in Street Situations, based on the prevailing legal and policy framework.
Better Parenting Nigeria is a parenting education program whose goal is to see that families have the knowledge and skills needed to raise healthy, safe and resilient children. The program aims to ensure that:
The caregiver-child relationship is strengthened;
Caregiver capacity to understa...nd family needs and access resources and services is
increased; and
Caregiver capacity to protect children from all forms of harm and exploitation is
improved.
This Facilitator’s Manual is for the facilitator to use to support the community discussions, provide targeted messaging, and recommend suggestions for knowledge and experience sharing. It should be used hand-in-hand with the Community Discussion Guide.
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