The Millennium Development goals are a series of goals set by the UN that address the world's major issues and steps towards solving them in the start of the 21st century. Goal 4, specifically, is addressed towards reducing the child deaths by 2/3 from 1990 to 2015. This parallels one of the major issues with the developing world that has been discussed throughout class. The article states that although efforts due to this goal has helped increase the likelihood of survival for young children, lack of access to neonatal care is causing a high proportion of deaths among babies less than four weeks old.
It seems as if solutions to this problem is simple - provide improved hygiene, breastfeeding, and warmth to babies. In the developing world, however, many families don't have the resources to provide these simple solutions of care for their child, nor are they educated to take such measures.
Although the solutions are clearly identified, what seems to be lacking is specific plans of actions to help facilitate the achievement of this goal in just under 4 years. It will be interesting to see how the UN plays a roll in pushing to reach this goal internationally in this short time period.
The article can be found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/aug/31/millennium-development-goals-newborn-deaths
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