Parliamentarians "Give us a hand" for child health
Fiona Uellendahl, Coordinator of Advocacy and Campaigning, World Vision Germany
More than 30 German Parliamentarians show support and raise their hands for the Child Health Now campaign
On the 27th June members of the Federal State Parliament in Hessen took part in World Vision Germany’s child health focused ‘Give us a hand!’ campaign.
More than 30 Parliamentarians came together in front of Parliament for a photo in which they collectively raised their hands in order to advocate for healthy children all over the globe. After the photograph, all 30 Parliamentarians signed ‘air-filled hands’ in order to show their support for the campaign.
Fiona Uellendahl, Coordinator of Advocacy & Campaigning, World Vision Germany, notes that, ‘With this event, World Vision Germany has demonstrated that it is time to stand up for healthy children and that politicians should keep their promises in order to realise the post- 2015 development agenda’.
Uellendahl reminds us that Germany, as a member of the UN, has promised to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday by two thirds by the year 2015. Currently, not even half of this goal has been achieved.
On the 8th July, World Vision was also present at the federal meeting of the German Christian Democratic Party (CDU) where they again asked politicians to take the opportunity to raise their hands for the Child Health Now campaign. At this meeting, the campaign was again eagerly supported by German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel.
What comes next?
On 21st August, World Vision Germany will continue to mobilise governmental actors in order to support child health. Dirk Niebel, the German Development Minister, will recieve all the “wishing hands” for child health, which were collected by World Vision Germany during the “Give us a hand” action. And also the minister will take his time to discuss with World Vision activists and advocacy experts, the political decisions and policies that are needed in Germany in order to pursue the goal that all children would Survive 5.