supporting opportunities for youth
ACTION aims to give all children a healthy start, with equal opportunities for girls and women to thrive. Only by investing more in underutilized—but proven—health and nutrition interventions can we close the gap in health outcomes across families’ incomes, wealth, or social status.
ACTION’s advocacy around giving children a healthy start targets nutrition, vaccine-preventable diseases, and innovation for new solutions. ACTION supports numerous global campaigns, including: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi); The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI); the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) process; Every Woman Every Child; The Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP); and the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health 2016–2030.
Our Healthy Start Programming
ACTION Global Health Advocacy Partnership works with locally rooted organizations all around the world to advance nutrition and vaccine programs, food security and clean water access, and other forms of effective, scalable aid to communities in need.
Tackling stunting, reducing waste
Routine immunization
Polio eradication
Primary healthcare
Nutrition
In 2018, 5.3 million children died under the age of five, and almost half of these deaths can be attributed to undernutrition. The world is off-track to meet nutrition goals, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates this issue. Shocks to nutrition will increase vulnerability to illnesses, which, in the long-term, reduce chances to escape poverty cycles and may halt economic growth.
Urgent action, including new and increased financial resources for nutrition, is essential. We must invest in evidence-based and measurable nutrition actions that we know are cost-effective, save the most lives, and are most sustainable. We must also build nutrition into universal health coverage (UHC) plans and programs because nutrition is key to so many other health issues.
Child Health & Vaccines
The Decade of Vaccines (2011–20) has achieved significant progress for vaccine introductions, but vaccine introductions alone do not save lives. To address urgent equity challenges and leave no one behind in immunization, we in the global health community must innovate to reach further and do things more efficiently and sustainably.
The Gavi 5.0 strategy for 2021–2025 sets out key priorities to deliver on its mission. Gavi will play an integral role in building strong PHC systems that can help countries progress towards UHC, and tangible commitments to equity are needed. Gavi must play a more active role in enhancing country preparedness using a country ownership lens and must be willing to meaningfully engage civil society. Community ownership of immunization services and active participation of affected communities will be critical to ensure the success of the Immunization Agenda 2030.
GFF & MNCH
The Global Financing Facility (GFF) presents an opportunity for governments to increase investments in the building blocks for healthy development and progress on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) by directing domestic, World Bank, and donor resources to the highest-impact programs.
The GFF is an important mechanism for the delivery of funding to improve the health and quality of life for women, girls and adolescents. It offers the possibility and opportunity to enhance both domestic and external support for RMNCAH+N in implementing countries to ensure a focus on results. We need more resources to make this happen and that includes resources for civil society to carry out its important role.
