by Nadia Ramoutar   MMM Communications Coordinator               Ireland     23.04.2025

This may seem obvious, but war is bad for babies.

A recent UN report shows what looks like promising news that deaths for children under five years of age has gone down by 50% in the past 25 years.  But what that statistic does not reflect is that in areas of the world where specific efforts are being made, great results have taken place that offer us some insight.  While is the poorest areas, things are much worse.  That’s the problem with statistics.

According to the report, “ progress to save children’s lives is possible, even in resource-constrained settings.”  Specifically the report shows that several low-income and lower-middle-income countries have made remarkable strides in reducing under-five mortality rates: Cambodia, Malawi, Uzbekistan and Rwanda have all reduced under-five mortality by over 75 per cent since 2000 for example.  These countries offer compelling evidence of what can be achieved in child survival when high-impact interventions reach the most vulnerable populations.”

Now, if you know anything about math, the fact that some countries have reduced their rates by 75% then we know the rates are still climbing in other parts of the world where less focused efforts are being made.

We also know too that this year we have seen major changes in funding and health assistance globally which will negatively impact the poorest women and children the most. Those who needed the help desperately will not be able to get it.

In war-torn areas, of which there are increasingly more, there will be a serious issue in trying to keep babies alive in that fragile first 28 days of life. We know that the mothers, already stressed and challenged in war-torn areas will have even greater grief facing the loss of a child.

American Scholar Cornell West famously said “Justice is what love looks like in public.”  I often think of this quote when I consider that we still live in a world where justice for a baby depends on their geography.  Who they are born to and where they are born predicts if they will get to live or not.  That just seems like a kind of spiritual citizenship that is wrong on several levels.

We are faced with some seriously dark times in which billionaires seem to get richer and more powerful and the most needy will fall into a bleak oblivion.  Whatever we can do to address this massive imbalance we are called upon to do.

Perhaps it is just meditate in our spiritual reflection about this massive imbalance.  It may be to get active in mission work or make a donation.  Perhaps it is to just pray for justice.

But in a world where there seems to be little regards for justice, we need to all agree, that war is bad for babies, always was and always will be.