The following are summaries of several opinion pieces published in anticipation of the Child Survival Call to Action event to be held on June 14-15 in Washington, D.C. Convened by the governments of the United States, Ethiopia and India, and organized in close collaboration with UNICEF, the event will focus on ending preventable child death through the survival of newborns, children and mothers and will convene 700 prominent leaders from government, the private sector, faith-based organizations and civil society to kick off a long-term, focused effort to save children’s lives.

• Dagfinn Hoybraten, The Hill’s “Congress Blog”: “Next week in Washington I’ll join hundreds of leaders — from world governments, the private sector, and faith-based organizations — to launch the Child Survival Call to Action, a long-term, focused effort to save children’s lives,” Hoybraten, vice president of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), writes. “The conference has an ambitious goal of ending preventable child deaths within a generation. This goal is indeed achievable. But this will require a new level of collaboration, additional resources and increased accountability,” he concludes (6/8).
• John McCullough, Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog: “For a brief moment, the world is about to turn its attention to the issue of child survival and nutrition,” McCullough, executive director and CEO of Church World Service, writes, adding, “Going forward, as civil society and the faith community in particular enter into talks with those of government and the private sector at the Child Survival: Call to Action summit, we need to keep in mind both the moral imperative and good economic sense, without violating our values” (6/8).
• Craig Rubens, Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog: “As a global community, we must prioritize child survival and child health, and commit additional resources to ending preventable child deaths,” Rubens, executive director of the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth, writes. He notes, “Rapid advances in technology mean rapid improvements in the delivery of care in the developed world,” and writes, “Safer and healthier pregnancies will put every child in a better position to live a long and healthy life. That’s why in addition to increasing the delivery of new healthcare technologies, it is equally important that we study what happens during pregnancy” (6/9).