Save the Children

NASA Astronaut Piers Sellers yesterday returned the red Save the Children t-shirt he carried with him on his 12-day mission to the international space station in May to the global humanitarian organization Save the Children. After sharing experiences of his flight, Sellers presented the t-shirt, autographed by the entire NASA Atlantis crew, to Save the Children's senior director of HIV/AIDS, Margaret Schuler.

Save the Children commends African heads of state for pledging at the African Union summit to take concrete actions to reduce maternal and child mortality in their countries.

Save the Children urges African leaders to recognize that investing in maternal and child health is critical to development — including economic development — in their countries.

Save the Children urged African heads of state to act on the African Union Summit theme of "Maternal, Infant, and Child Health and Development in Africa."

African heads of state can and must take clear actions to end the majority of the continent's annual 4.5 million child deaths and 265,000 maternal deaths, Save the Children said. African heads of state will meet Sunday to Tuesday in Kampala at the 15th African Union Summit themed "Maternal, Infant, and Child Health and Development in Africa."

Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and displaced over 160,000 Louisiana and Mississippi kids, a new report reveals that the vast majority of states are still not fully prepared to protect children in disasters. Fewer than one quarter of all states and the District of Columbia have enacted four basic safeguards to protect kids who are in school or child care during disasters, such as requiring all licensed child care centers to have a plan to reunite children with their families and requiring schools to have a clear written evacuation plan in place.

In the aftermath of the Kampala terrorist attacks, Save the Children and other civil society groups have postponed plans for a Friday public rally to promote maternal, newborn, and child health in Africa. The rally had been set to precede the gathering of heads of state in Kampala during the July 19-27 African Union Summit, the theme of which is "Maternal, Infant, and Child Health and Development in Africa."

As the Haitian population approaches six months since the devastating earthquake of January 12, the Save the Children team in Haiti continues to assist vulnerable children and families. However children still remain at risk, and the organization foresees a long-term process of intense reconstruction, rehabilitation and investment ahead.

Save the Children is readying a response for children affected by massive flooding in northen Romania. Floodwaters spilling over the banks of the Siret and Prut rivers has reportedly damaged over 7,000 homes and forced the rapid evacuation of some 10,000 children and adults.

We have just had another G8 Summit. As other blogs here have discussed, there are clearly problems with the G8. Campaigners, lobbyists and developing country governments put huge amounts of time and attention into deceasing returns.