On November 20th, in celebration of World Children’s Day, we honor not only the fundamental rights of children but also the significant progress made in improving child health worldwide. At Muso, our teams are dedicated to ensuring that children in the communities we serve receive the right care, at the right time.
In 2022, the mortality rate of children under five recorded a historic decline, dropping from over 5 million deaths in 2021 to 4.9 million in 2022, according to the UN report published in 2024. This major advancement reflects the joint efforts of humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, and governments worldwide, particularly in the field of child health.
Aligned with these global efforts, Muso continues to be a key player in ensuring equitable access to health care for children under five, particularly in Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, and, more recently, Zambia. At the heart of our approach is a core belief: no one should die waiting for health care. To overcome the challenges of access to care in the most underserved regions, we have implemented an innovative community health care model in Mali and Côte d'Ivoire. This model leverages the work of Community Health Workers (CHWs), who play a crucial role in providing timely care and treatment to patients.
Through the dedicated intervention of CHWs and health care personnel at the community level, we have significantly reduced the child mortality rate in the communities we serve. From January to August 2024, our efforts enabled us to provide rapid, quality care to over 25, 000 children under the age of five in our intervention zones in Mali alone, saving countless lives. This work has been particularly impactful in the communities of Bankass and Yirimadio, where thousands of children have received vital health services for preventable diseases, such as malaria, malnutrition and pneumonia. We have also made notable progress in the vaccination coverage of children aged 0 to 23 months by launching a vaccination program. Thanks to community strategies, our partner health centers received 28,513 vaccination visits during the second and third quarters of 2023, representing a 40% increase compared to the number of visits in the previous six months.
Our approach has delivered remarkable results in both rural and peri-urban areas. In our latest research study conducted in Bankass, Mali, we found that child mortality rates plummeted by over half, decreasing from 148 per 1,000 live births to 55 per 1,000. This represents the largest and fastest decline in under-five mortality ever documented in a conflict zone.
On this World Children’s Day, we reaffirm our commitment to improving access to health care for children, wherever and whenever they need it. The progress we have achieved demonstrates that it is possible to transform health care systems so that no one is left behind.
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