Humanitas Global Development Blog

Reversing the Effects of Child Stunting Through…Play!

By Erica Oakley, Humanitas Global

A growth-stunted toddler has an underdeveloped brain. Now fast forward twenty years later and his income is 25% higher than his non-stunted peer. How is that possible?

One word: PLAY!

Source: www.slate.com

In evaluating the long-term impact of an early childhood development (ECD) intervention, a recent study in Science showed that growth-stunted toddlers in Jamaica who participated in a psychosocial stimulation intervention were not only able to catch up with their non-stunted peers but two decades later, were earning 25% more.

How is that possible?

For two years, community health workers made hourly visits to mothers, teaching the mothers parenting skills and training them how to help their children develop “cognitive, language, and psychosocial skills.” Mothers were encouraged to use items from the home, such as a cup or spoon, so the child would develop an understanding of his or her environment.

As noted in the 2007 Lancet Child Development in Developing Countries Series, more than 200 million children less than 5 years of age never reach their full potential. Just as those in the Jamaica study, these children fall behind cognitively due to the impacts of poverty, hunger, disease and lack of stimulation – resulting in stunting. Interestingly, the Jamaica study finds that effects of stunting can be reversed and that a child engaged in play and learning no longer has to fall behind their well-nourished counterparts.

This is a game changer. We know that play is a building block of life. It goes beyond giving children an opportunity to enjoy childhood, but is instrumental in the development of children – physical, social, emotional and cognitive, especially within those early formative before the age of 5. With stunted children, we often assume that they will not learn as easily, earn as much, or be as productive as their non-stunted peers. However, the findings of this study challenge that notion.

The early stimulation intervention done through play did more than just engage the child; it had long-term social and economic impact. This study shows that we need to focus our energies on not only ensuring that children receive adequate nutrition or have access to health care, but are also engaged mentally.

Studies like the one done in Jamaica demonstrate to the international community that recognizing play as a powerful tool can improve the outcome of disadvantaged children in developed and developing countries alike, and help turn the tide on some of our greatest long-term development challenges.

World Blood Donor Day: Joining Forces to Save Lives

Guest post by Dr Che Kit LIN, Chief Executive & Medical Director, Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service 

The theme for this year's World Blood Donor Day is "Safe Blood for Saving Mothers." It is a chance to highlight the need for timely access to safe blood in the prevention of maternal deaths. In fact, one person’s donation of blood can save up to three lives.

Severe bleeding during delivery or after childbirth is the most common cause of maternal mortality, contributing to an astounding 34% of maternal deaths in Africa, 21% in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 31% in Asia.

In Asia, Nepal remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world with 1/4 of its population of 27.5 million living below the poverty line. The country has considerably improved maternal health in the past two decades; between 1993 and 2010, the estimated maternal mortality ratio declined from 539 to 170 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. However, maternal mortality rates here are still among the highest in the world.

One way to help lower the high rate of maternal deaths is through the humanitarian act of giving blood. This act is repeated every year by millions of people through voluntary non-remunerated donation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 countries currently collect 100% of their blood supply from voluntary unpaid donors. The Red Cross Red Crescent Movement plays a major part in this with more than 34 million active donors around the world. In concert with our partners, we aim to grow these figures. WHO’s ambition is to have all blood donation undertaken on this basis by 2020.

Source: gatesfoundation.org

Access to a safe and sufficient blood supply could help to prevent the death of a significant number of Nepalese mothers and their newborn infants each year.

In many cases, the most effective way to reach more people and strengthen blood programmes is for a Red Cross or Red Crescent National Society to join forces. For example, the Hong Kong Red Cross and Nepal Red Cross Society are working together to improve the latter’s capacity to carry out blood services, assist with risk management and provide safe equipment to reduce the risk of contamination.

The Nepal Red Cross Society began to provide institution based Blood Transfusion Services in 1964. In 2012, it had more than 177,000 blood donors countrywide. 

In October 2013, the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service and the Global Advisory Panel (GAP) on Corporate Governance and Risk Management of Blood Services began an 18 month collaborative project to provide support to the Nepal Red Cross Society National Blood Transfusion Service, lending technical expertise and financial assistance to sustain blood programmes. The programme reaches approximately 40,000 patients who receive blood transfusion per year.

Through this joint programme, we hope to provide skills and knowledge to reach those with the greatest blood needs, ultimately helping to reduce maternal mortality rates at the local level.

This project has enabled two members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to combine and leverage their expertise, capacity and funding to facilitate improvements to a national Red Cross Blood Service.  It highlights the future opportunities for such collaborations, coordinated by GAP, between high functioning blood services, partner organisations and other priority countries. This August, members of both parties will meet to discuss any areas for improvement to strengthen the overall effectiveness of this and future programmes.

National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies help where the need is greatest, whether that means providing on-the-ground assistance or supporting fellow societies.

World Blood Donor Day is a single day to remember why we work together to save lives. But we do this every day. We can only continue to work towards achieving 100 per cent voluntary blood donation to save the millions of lives at risk daily. By working together to advocate for effective blood programmes and recruitment of donors, we can give hope - and blood - for those who give life.

Dr Che Kit LIN is the Chief Executive and Medical Director of theHong Kong Red CrossBlood Transfusion Service. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest volunteer-based humanitarian network, reaching 150 million people each year through our 189 member National Societies. For more information, please visitwww.ifrc.org.

For further information on this programme, please contact: [email protected]. 

World Environment Day 2014: A Forum for Small Island Developing States

Guest post by: Adam Rochwerg, Intern at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional office for North America

Island inhabitants are suffering, water levels are rising, and livelihoods of island dwellers are increasingly threatened. The global environmental community is working hard to bring notoriety to this plight, yet more needs to be done – everyone needs to get involved.

On June 5, the global community will commemorate World Environment Day. Organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), World Environment Day is the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment. Since the first World Environment Day in 1973, it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in more than 100 countries.

This year, World Environment Day celebrations are focusing on three areas: Small Island Developing States (SIDS), climate change, and sea level rise. In support of the UN designation of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States, World Environment Day will highlight the plight of SIDS in the broader context of climate change. The purpose of this theme is to build momentum towards the Third International Conference on SIDS, which is taking place this year from 1-4 September in Samoa. Further, UNEP hopes to encourage a greater understanding of the importance of SIDS and the urgency needed to help protect SIDS from growing risks and vulnerabilities associated with climate change.

World Environment Day 2014 involves a UNEP challenge, facilitated by UNEP’s celebrity ambassadors: actors Don Cheadle and Ian Somerhalder, supermodel Giselle Bundchen, and soccer player Yaya Touré. Each challenges individuals to conserve electricity, reduce carbon footprints, utilize green practices, and avoid unnecessary plastics. UNEP has also challenged individuals and organizations to record their actions, leading to a database of World Environment Day-related activities.   

The challenges facing SIDS are many, and they need the attention of the global community. Rising sea levels have infiltrated freshwater reserves, agricultural systems, and have begun a process of landmass erosion. Some small island states are barely a meter above sea level, and rising water levels severely threaten their existence. There must be more discussion on marine conservation, funds for adaptation to rising sea levels, sustainable island development, water scarcity, and reactions to flooding coastal regions. We believe World Environment Day is an excellent opportunity to raise a call for solidarity with small islands threatened by climate change and rising sea levels.

Photo credit: whc.unesco.org

World Environment Day serves as an opportunity for global involvement in the fight to save the environment. It represents a ‘people’s day‘ aimed at turning individual acts into a collective response to environmental issues, but this collective action only works if individuals actually get involved. Public outreach and accessibility is essential. What will you be doing to celebrate and honor World Environment Day?

Adam Rochwerg is a second year Canadian law student at the University of Ottawa, currently interning at the United Nations Environment Programme’s Regional office for North America. He is interested in global environmental governance and the law as a mechanism for policy. UNEP’s Regional Office for North America is the focal point for the United Nations Environment Programme in this vastly important region. It focuses on outreach in the Canadian and American governments, and environmentally-related issues of importance to the region.