Proposition 51K2672

Proposition de résolution relative à la réduction de la mortalité infantile dans les pays où la coopération belge au développement est active.

General information ¶

Authors

Open Vld Miguel Chevalier, Hilde Vautmans

Submission date

Sept. 4, 2006

Official page

Visit

Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

infant mortality resolution of parliament development aid

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB

Contact form ¶

Do you have a question or request regarding this proposition? Select the most appropriate option for your request and I will get back to you shortly.

Discussion ¶

Dec. 7, 2006 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

Do you both take the word? A draft resolution without a report with two speakers.

... ...

Did you not have the opportunity to prepare a report?

No, it all has to go very quickly.

The text of the proposal dates from 4 September.

Parliament sometimes works quickly.

I heard it quickly and efficiently at the time.

I have never taken those words into my mouth.

The [...]

Mr. Tante, I still remember from the time I was up there, that you were a very useful disturber for me at that time. You were someone who could keep me alert and vigilant in the late meetings of this Parliament to convey the message of the Prime Minister to the press. So I thank you from this tribune for your contribution to paars I.

Mr. Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, I know that in the plenary session we still have to struggle with the program law and that in various committees we have to address the various provisions, but yet we have already received a taste of a prill Christmas story, in particular the story of the baby in the cardboard box in Essen in the last two weeks.

We could see that there was a very great solidarity for this one baby. I believe that a site has been designed, that fifty adoptive families have signed up and that during the Sinterklaas period hundreds of gifts have been sent, all for one baby. This has been an illustration of the fact that we have a very solidary society in our country.

Ladies and gentlemen, however, in the same period, we must note that at this particular moment around 30,000 children worldwide are fighting for life and death. Each year, about 4 million children die before their first birthday and 10.5 million children under the age of five. These deaths occur mainly in developing countries. Colleague Vautmans will give some more figures about the situation.

A key finding compared to Essen is that the fathers and mothers in developing countries did not want it. They want to take care of their children and take care of them, but they do not have the financial resources or the medicines to help their children.

Reducing child mortality is one of the Millennium Goals. By 2015, the mortality rate among children under five years of age should be reduced by two-thirds from the 1990 level.

In the analyses we and the members of the Foreign Affairs Committee do, we often talk about the Millennium Goals. If we evaluate the state of affairs today, we see that in many areas the case is not rosy or hopeful. When it comes to child mortality, we note that sixteen years later it has dropped by just 15%. We have nine years to go and in those nine years we have to repair 66%.

To gain sixty-six percent still means that we must admit that we will fail at 33 percent, that we will have to leave one child out of three to his fate while we have not yet been able to help those two others.

Those objectives must therefore be achieved. It is striking that the Minister of Development Cooperation said during a hearing in the House that we cannot ⁇ the Millennium Goals and if we want to do so, we need to add at least a century to ⁇ them.

Ladies and gentlemen, with this I did not say that the federal government does not make any efforts and does not make any efforts through multilateral and bilateral assistance and the contract with the 18 partners. The federal government’s intention to follow the 0.7% growth path is being followed, but not yet sufficient.

Therefore, we, the presenters of this resolution, consider that it is high time to make additional efforts.

Research and mortality rates show that the first years of life are ⁇ critical. Colleagues who, like me, or like some members of the sp.a, have children who are still in the pampers or who are just out, know very well that sometimes it is very small infections such as colds, measles or diarrhea that cause us to get up at night, go to a doctor, need to administer medications. In fact, we find that those medicines and primary care are a very big help to get our children back healthy and fit. They are precisely those small infections that are slinging murderers in developing countries. It is not the projects in which large and modern maternity clinics are established or other major prestigious projects that will turn the tide. It is also a conclusion that a developing country cannot grow if the children die or are weakened. Vulnerable, sick or weak children can never lift their country out of misery.

With this resolution, we call on the Government, in the light of this fight against child mortality in the partner countries where the Belgian development cooperation is active, to launch special projects to significantly and with effective means reduce child mortality.

The Minister of Development is not present. He had more or less promised it. I suspect that he is preparing for his trip to Congo. We are working on the growth path of 0.7%. We come out at approximately 0.53 to 0.56%. I would like to ask the Minister to prioritize all the money that will be added in the coming years to the fight against child mortality.

This resolution was unanimously approved by the members present in the Foreign Affairs Committee. I would like to thank my colleagues who were present at that committee meeting.

The events of the last few weeks in Essen have taught us that there is a great social warmth for children in need. I hope this also applies to children elsewhere in the world.

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Minister, colleagues, it may be strange that two members present a discussion on a topic that may be very distant to some.

Each year, 10.6 million children under the age of five die. I don’t know if you can guess how much it is. Therefore, I would like to ask you to hold your breath for 6 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I had asked to hold your breath for 6 seconds.

I thought you asked me to remain silent for 6 seconds, which was much more difficult.

Colleagues, during these six seconds, two children under five years old died somewhere in the world. I hope you realize what that means.

30,000 children under five years of age die every day. The number of children under the age of five who die annually worldwide is equal to the total number of children under the age of five who live together in France, Germany, Greece and Italy.

I am very pleased that we are addressing this resolution today. The Millennium Goals must be achieved by 2015 and this Millennium Goal, the reduction of child mortality, is absolutely necessary. Many steps have already been taken, but since the 1990s, the reduction of infant mortality has slowed rather than accelerated.

Most of the child mortality is due to very simple diseases, such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria, which can be solved by very simple means. If each of us in the world gave about $1 a year, 70% of child mortality could be reduced. Very simple measures could prevent 70% of child mortality.

Sometimes it is too crazy to mention. I have seen it in Niger and in Ethiopia. Just a warm hat at birth or a sterile knife to cut through the umbilical cord are simple procedures that could save many child lives.

That is why we call on the government to make reducing child mortality in developing countries a priority. I hope that later, when you press the voice button, you again think of holding your breath and then press the green button with full conviction.