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Leaders Call for Renewed Efforts in Child Survival at Global Health experts called for increased action and bipartisan support for child survival efforts worldwide at the first annual James P. Grant Lecture on March 23, 2010 at The George Washington University, “Jim Grant’s legacy can be seen in each of the Millennium Development Goals related to children,” said Jim Sherry, Chairman of the Department of Global Health at George Washington University. “In six months, when the UN General Assembly will review the progress towards the MDGs, we will find an unfinished agenda. If we are going to change that, the work needs to start now.” 2010 marks the 15th year since the passing of James P. Grant, the former Executive Director of UNICEF who New York Times journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof described in 2008 as "a little-known American aid worker," who had "probably saved more lives than were destroyed by Hitler, Mao and Stalin combined." “If he were here today, Jim would be planning ahead for 2015 and preparing for the next set of challenges,” said Jon Rohde, Professor at the James P. Grant School of Public Health in Bangladesh, during his keynote address to an audience of over 80 colleagues, friends, and admirers of Grant. “He would be stretching the limits of the possible, harnessing the latest technology and always harping on the mantra – children first.” In reflecting both on Grant’s ambitious efforts and today’s challenges, Rohde called for resources to focus on children rather than diseases, for policies that strengthen UNICEF’s support for education, and for legislators and practitioners to begin planning now for the next decade. Following Rohde’s remarks, a panel of distinguished guests including Dr. Robert Glass, Director of the Fogarty International Center and Associate Director for International Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and Sandy Thurman, Former Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy at The White House, shared thoughts on how to move forward. In particular, they stressed the need for bipartisan support and increased multilateral leadership around child survival. Panelists highlighted the past success of the Child Survival Revolution in mobilizing health services in virtually every nation. They pointed to that success as a model for moving forward and discussed the need for a new champion. Highlighting the need for increased leadership, Rohde recounted Grant’s willingness to meet with both democratic leaders and dire dictators in order to promote and protect the welfare of children. “Jim always had an ORS packet on him and he didn’t take no for an answer,” he said. Grant’s persistence paid off. In 1989, the UN General Assembly adopted The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which identifies legally protected human rights specifically for children. He also influenced the role of UNICEF in the 1990 World Summit for Children (WSC), an unprecedented gathering of world leaders to discuss and improve the plight of children world wide. Since Grant’s death, there have been many lectures, publications, and initiatives commemorating his work and recounting the many lessons emulated; still none have been a greater testimonial to his life than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were a direct result of the WSC. “Jim Grant saw through children the chance of peace and decency for everyone,” said Jon Rohde, “Indeed, children are a valid aim in themselves, but even more so as a means to uncover the humanity in us all and bring about a better world in the process. This is the legacy he left us – the challenge lives on.” |
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