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Around the world, preventable maternal deaths, deaths among children under five years and neonatal deaths take place in areas experiencing conflict, displacement and natural disasters. According to the World Health Organization South Sudan has some of the worst health outcomes in the world.

Jules Zanré, a Montrealer originally from Burkina Faso, has spent the last 10 years improving access to health care for mothers, newborns, and children in many rural communities of Mali.

Since 2012, the Government of Canada has provided funding to a Canadian Red Cross project to support the Mali Red Cross and Mali Ministry of Health in delivering health services to rural communities, with a focus on maternal, newborn and child health. These services are sorely needed as, according to the latest estimates, Mali has some of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world.

Colourful mats line the floor, dolls sit in anticipation of being played with, building blocks stand at the ready, and puzzles lay piled waiting to be put together. These are rooms any child would want to play in – brightly painted Child Friendly Spaces, created by the Nepal Red Cross Society following the 2015 earthquake, with funding support from the Canadian Red Cross.

Fatima Olympia is a nurse with advanced training at Nhamatanda District Hospital in the labour and delivery ward. When Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique, it brought destruction across the area, including to the hospital. In response, the Canadian Red Cross, with the support of the Finnish Red Cross, set up an emergency hospital in Nhamatanda to support the District Hospital. With about 300 babies born a month, here is how we're improving outcomes for mothers and babies.

In Mali, most infant deaths are associated with diseases that can be treated with medication. What kills babies, among other things, is that these diseases are often detected too late. Why? There are a number of reasons, but in Koulikoro, in the villages where the Red Cross team is working, one of the biggest reasons seems to have to do with tradition.

Conflict and displacement across South Sudan has put an enormous strain on health care systems. South Sudan Red Cross, with the support of Canadians and the Government of Canada, is reaching 33,000 women and children with vital health care in remote and hard-to-reach communities.

A tiny baby, wrapped tightly in blankets, his face just peeking out, sleeps tucked up against his resting mother, under the watchful eye of his grandmother. It’s a scene that plays out all over the world, but in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh on Nov. 25 this story nearly had a different ending.