Children run with Save the Children against infant mortality

For the third consecutive year, Nicaraguan children joined over 50,000 children around the world in the Race or Walk for Survival, the largest children’s participation event promoted by Save the Children in more than 60 countries.

In previous years this global event focused only on the achievement of Millennium Development Goal #4 (reduce child mortality), but on this occasion the children raised their voices globally to demand a greater commitment from governments in the area of health and the reduction of child mortality prior to the approval of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

A number of adult personalities also participated in the Race or Walk for Survival in Nicaragua, which took place around Lake Tiscapa in Managua. They included National Assembly representative Carlos Emilio López; Special Ombudsperson for Children and Adolescents, Martha Toruño; and Mendy Arauz, the director of the Ministry of the Family, Adolescents and Children’s Love Program.

Carlos Emilio López, who is also a former special ombudsperson for children and adolescents, said that “Nicaragua has shown great advances in terms of the reduction of child mortality in the last eight years. This is due to the country having obtained 100% child vaccination coverage and to the social programs that are being implemented to increase access to education, health and food security, among others.”

The event was organized in coordination with the Movimiento Infantil Luis Alfonso Velásquez Flores (MILAVF) and the National Movement of Adolescents and Youth (MNAJ), which were involved in the lobbying actions with the media to disseminate the new Sustainable Development Agenda 2015-2030, as well as participating in the main Race or Walk for Survival activity.

The race or walk around Tiscapa Lake included the participation of over 250 children from MILAVF, the MNAJ, Capri, Radio Chavala, Los Pipitos and the Abre tus ojos (open your eyes) television program. The winners of each category were awarded a surprise prize presented by the Movistar cell phone company, which sponsored the event.