Young child survival and development

‘The Survival Project’: CNN programme shines spotlight on UNICEF work

© CNN/2008/Gajilan

A historic global broadcast on CNN and CNN International, ‘The Survival Project: One Child at a Time’, will feature reports on UNICEF’s worldwide programmes.

NEW YORK, USA, 3 July 2008 – UNICEF will be the focus of a special global broadcast on CNN and CNN International this Sunday.

The Survival Project: One Child at a Time will feature work that UNICEF is doing to protect and support children in countries such as Laos, Iraq, Ethiopia and Peru.

“CNN’s correspondents will show the challenges faced by children around the world and will offer viewers an opportunity to effect helpful change,” said the Executive Vice President of Content Development and Strategy for CNN Worldwide, Sue Bunda.

Joining the fight for child survival
Anchored by CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, ‘The Survival Project’ will premiere on Sunday, 6 July at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern Time in the United States, and will be simulcast on CNN and CNN International.

The broadcast will also feature UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu and musician Joel Madden as panellists speaking about their experiences with UNICEF. Other celebrities – including Clay Aiken, Nicole Ritchie, Al Roker and Marcus Samuelsson – will appear in video diaries about their volunteer work, encouraging viewers to join the fight for child survival.

A challenge to the audience
Child mortality rates reached a new low last year. For the first time since the United Nations began keeping records, the number of children who die each year before the age of five has dropped below 10 million.

© CNN/2008/Gajilan

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who will anchor ‘The Survival Project’, meets children living in some of the least developed neighbourhoods of Lima, Peru.

‘The Survival Project’ will focus on the challenges that remain.

“As many as 9.7 million children die each year before their fifth birthday, largely due to preventable causes like measles, malaria and diarrhoea. That is 26,000 children every day,” said US Fund for UNICEF President and CEO Caryl Stern. “We’re extremely grateful to see the world’s top news network not only highlighting the difficulties facing children’s survival, but moreover, challenging its audience to put an end to this injustice.”