Child Health

Tahmina Ferdousy, Kamrun Naher Ahmed, Mohammad Omar Faruque, Hayalnesh Tarekegn, and Rashed Shah from Save the Children's Bangladesh Sponsorship Team and the Urban Hub Team at Save the Children.
11 min

How community healthcare workers improve child health in slums

Tahmina Ferdousy, Kamrun Naher Ahmed, Mohammad Omar Faruque, Hayalnesh Tarekegn, and Rashed Shah from Save the Children's Bangladesh Sponsorship Team and the Urban Hub Team at Save the Children., September 23, 2025, 11 min

Community health workers (CHWs) in Bangladesh’s slums are improving healthcare access for children by addressing malnutrition, preventable diseases, adolescent sexual and reproductive health and maternal health. Organisations like BRAC and Save the Children are enhancing CHWs’ impact through training, mentoring and policy support, ensuring that the most at-risk children receive essential care.  The UN Convention Read more →

Sarah Sabry and Anupama Nallari at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children
10 min

11 actions to promote healthy cities for children

Sarah Sabry and Anupama Nallari at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children, October 1, 2024, 10 min

Pollution, heat stress, hunger and poverty are increasing in rapidly urbanising cities and towns in low-and middle-income countries, posing severe health risks to millions of children, particularly those living in slums and informal settlements. This blog identifies 11 actions that governments and other relevant stakeholders can take to promote healthy cities for all children.  According Read more →

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the urban Hub @ Save the Children
9 min

Urban heat and children: What’s at stake and how can cities do better?

Urban Heat and Children

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the urban Hub @ Save the Children, July 25, 2023, 9 min

The world is getting warmer. That much is clear. Recent reports highlight that 2023 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with heatwaves and extreme heat affecting people globally. Extreme heat is a genuine threat to life and impacts the vulnerable – the very young and the elderly – most of all. A Read more →

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the urban Hub @ Save the Children
9 min

Three examples of safe area-based facilities that improve the lives of urban children in disadvantaged settings

Children at a MAC engaged in arts and crafts activities

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the urban Hub @ Save the Children, June 13, 2023, 9 min

In dense, unplanned, and disadvantaged urban areas like slums and informal settlements, safe places and facilities where children can come together to learn, play, and access resources can be crucial for their health, development and wellbeing. In this blog, we share three types of facilities that deliver much-needed integrated services for children, young people and Read more →

Anna Siprikova
8 min

Child-friendly street transformations improve neighbourhood quality of life

Anna Siprikova, May 16, 2023, 8 min

Children experience street infrastructure uniquely. However, how we design streets doesn’t always consider children’s needs. This blog spotlights two successful street interventions in Fortaleza, Brazil and Santiago, Chile, which made streets more safe, active and sociable, benefitting children and adults. The Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) Streets for Kids team is a group of urban Read more →

Rob Hughes, Geoffrey Mboya and Elizabeth Kimani
8 min

Child health on a warming planet

Rob Hughes, Geoffrey Mboya and Elizabeth Kimani, May 2, 2023, 8 min

We have an understandable tendency to put things, people, and issues into boxes. One example of this has been how we’ve historically talked about environmental health separately from child health. For example, separating environmental health departments from those looking at maternal and child health (including at the World Health Organization, no less). But on a Read more →

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children
9 min

3 ways to tackle waste in cities: Drawing inspiration from young African changemakers

Anupama Nallari and Sarah Sabry at the Urban Hub @ Save the Children, February 28, 2023, 9 min

Waste is a growing global problem which affects the health and well-being of people and the planet. Urban children in low-and middle-income countries, particularly the poorest, are among the most vulnerable to the health and environmental risks caused by poor waste management in cities. In this blog, to inspire our readers to take action, we Read more →

Nzisa Kioko and Sarah Sharpe
7 min

“The future I want for my child”: how climate action can transform children’s health in cities

Nzisa Kioko and Sarah Sharpe, November 10, 2022, 7 min

Parents in Nairobi tell their stories about how climate change and air pollution are affecting the health of their children – and share their vision for a healthier, cleaner future. Children are particularly vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change, including the effects of heat and air pollution. African cities, including Nairobi, are facing Read more →

Eleanor Ross
4 min

Three projects to promote cycling in cities

Eleanor Ross, June 3, 2022, 4 min

Swapping the car for a bike can work wonders for children and their caregivers, by making the city safer, more accessible and reducing emissions. Making our cities more cycle-able for children means making them more accessible for everyone.  The World Health Organization estimates that well over two-thirds of adolescents aren’t active enough, and believe a Read more →

Sheridan Bartlett
6 min

WASH and urban children: How can NGOs support equitable provision?

Sheridan Bartlett, March 22, 2022, 6 min

The Global Alliance – Cities4Children has recently published an evidence-to-action brief on urban children and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene). This blog highlights some of the key ways NGOs can support the design and delivery of programmes designed to address WASH provision in urban areas. Well over half of urban children in the global South, Read more →

Cities4Children
8 min

Conversations: What impact can housing have on a child?

Cities4Children , January 25, 2022, 8 min

We may see a house as just that: a shelter and a space to call home. But what if that house is inadequate? If the house can’t be kept clean or it’s situated along a polluted, dusty road? What if it’s not safe, and even when they close the door, its residents can’t relax? What Read more →

Sheridan Bartlett and Cecilia Tacoli
5 min

Are hunger and child malnutrition increasingly becoming ‘urban problems?’

Sheridan Bartlett and Cecilia Tacoli , January 11, 2022, 5 min

After decades of decline, global hunger and malnutrition are increasing. While on average urban children tend to fare better than rural children, one in three stunted children lives in the city. [bctt tweet=”In addition, rates of malnutrition are especially high among the urban poor, who must often face impediments to food security. ” username=”cities4children”] While obesity Read more →