The Norwegian Government allocates NOK 300 million to help achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4), increasing the Government's total contribution to fight child mortality to a total of NOK 800 million a year. The aim of MDG4 is to reduce the mortality of children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015. Norway's allocations to MDG4 come in addition to the country's contributions to UNICEF and WHO.

"We are scaling up our commitment to children in poor countries. 10.5 million children die every year from diseases that can be treated or prevented. This is a tragedy, and we can not let it go on. Therefore we are increasing our contributions and call upon other nations and organizations to increase their effort as well", Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at the opening of the Symposium on Child Survival in New York today.

The meeting gathers political leaders, leading organizations on child health and experts in the field. The meeting is an initiative by the Government of Norway, UNICEF and the medical journal the Lancet. The meeting coincided with the opening of the UN General Assembly.

Norwegian funding has already been used to save children through major vaccine programmes and initiatives in countries with high child mortality.

"The most effective way to reduce child mortality is to ensure that all children are vaccinated against the most common diseases. The Measles Initiative is a good example. The initiative is a success in countries working systematically within this programme. In Africa 248 million children have been vaccinated against measles since 1999, and the programme has helped to halve measles-related deaths and saves 450.000 children every year. Programmes like this and other measures must be our priority", Mr. Stoltenberg said.

"To reach our aim to save more children, countries with high child mortality must initiate programmes and receive high-level political support. We will cooperate with India and support their programme to reduce child mortality", the Prime Minister said.

In India 2.2 million children under the age of five die every year. Mr. Stoltenberg and his Indian colleague Manmohan Singh have signed an agreement under which the Norwegian Government will contribute NOK 500 million over a five year period to India's new child survival programme. The programme is directed toward the five states most exposed to child mortality, representing 60 percent of the country's child mortality. Increase vaccination, education of local health workers and improvement of newborn health are planned measures. The programme is carried out in cooperation with UNICEF and WHO.

"Analysis shows that our efforts are helping. But we need to invest more and we need a global business plan to defeat child mortality by 2015", Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said.

Read more about the Norwegian government's commitment to MDG