Director’s Speech from IHECC

A warm welcome to all visitors to the website of the Belt and Road Maternal and Child Health Cooperation Project. I would like to extend our best wishes to you, on behalf of the host of this website and the project, the International Health Exchange and Cooperation Center of the National Health Commission of China.

Under the strong leadership of the Government of China, healthcare has achieved remarkable progress in the country. In particular, in the area of maternal and child health (MCH), the Government and the Chinese people have made relentless efforts and secured substantial results. Based on the joint evaluation by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank on the health performance of 144 low-and-middle-income countries in 2014, China stood as one of the top 10 high performing countries in the world in terms of MCH, and achieved the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs) of the United Nations ahead of time. In 2019, China’s maternal mortality rate was 17.8 in 100,000 live births, infant mortality rate was 5.6 in 1,000 live births, and the under-five mortality was 7.8 in 1,000 live births.

Advancing maternal and child health has become a global initiative, as it is a cause that touches the hearts of all people. Through the Belt and Road Initiative and South-South Cooperation, China has been deeply engaging in the global MCH governance, contributing to building the community with a shared future for humankind. We have been expanding our partnerships and cooperation with other countries, and continue to share China’s experiences that have been highly recognized by international organizations such as WHO and UNICEF. These important experiences combine sound planning and political commitment with quality services delivery and secured essential funding. IHECC began its cooperation with UNICEF on the Belt and Road MCH project in 2018. Guided by demand-orientated theory and integrating the best resources available, our cooperation adheres to the principle of multi-disciplinary, multi-efficiency, all links and long-term development to combine online and offline platforms to promote exchanges and cooperation. During the process of design and construction of the website, in addition to the vertical learning and exchange sections sharing China's experiences and practical capacities, we emphasized the building of a horizontal exchange platform to share experiences and challenges. We invite you to make full use of this platform, and encourage you to put forward demands and cooperation suggestions, as well as learn from each other, in order to strengthen MCH exchanges and create a 2.0 version of international health cooperation.

Over the years, IHECC has devoted itself t promoting accessibility and equity of healthcare both in China and around the world. We are thankful for UNICEF for their kind and generous support to the website, and hope that the website can offer a platform for colleagues around the world to learn about the development of China’s MCH programme, share relevant experiences with each other, and confront challenges together.

欢迎访问“一带一路”妇幼卫生合作网站！我谨代表网站主办单位国家卫生健康委国际交流与合作中心向您致以敬意和祝福！

在中国政府的坚强领导下，中国的卫生健康事业取得了令世人瞩目的成绩。在保障妇女儿童健康方面，2014年根据世界卫生组织、世界银行对全球144个中低收入国家卫生绩效开展的联合评估，中国是全球前十的的妇幼卫生高绩效国家，提前实现了联合国千年发展目标（MDG）。2019年中国孕产妇死亡率为17.8/10万，婴儿死亡率为5.6‰，5岁以下儿童死亡率为7.8‰。

妇幼健康最易触动人们内心柔软之地，已成为全世界共同事业。中国政府把参与全球妇幼健康治理作为优先，共同推进人类命运共同体的建设。我们不断拓展伙伴关系的建立，期望将政治重视、妇女赋权、良好规划、系统地提供服务、获得必要资金和先进技术等妇幼健康发展主要经验，与相关国家同道分享，共同发展。基于此，我所在的国家卫生健康委国际交流与合作中心，2018年与联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）合作开展“一带一路”妇幼卫生合作，本着以需求为导向，整合中国最好的资源，秉持多要素、多效益、全环节、谋长远的原则，初步建成了妇幼卫生的培训港湾，旨在探索线上线下相结合的方法推进交流与合作。本网站除设置了分享中国的经验和实践能力等垂直学习交流板块外，特别强调将其建成各方分享经验，直面挑战的横向交流平台。期望各方充分利用这个平台提出需求和合作建议，并藉此平台互学互鉴，促进自身的和共同的妇幼健康发展。

自1982年成立之日起，国家卫生健康委国际交流与合作中心致力于中国及全球卫生健康的可及性和公平性。我们感谢联合国儿童基会对本网站的支持，也将继续与其共同和相关国家、机构建立伙伴关系，为实现联合国可持续发展目标（SDG）作出贡献。