In Photos: Celebrating International Women’s Day

Sophie Tayeye, a community liaison health worker, explains to new mothers the importance of registering their child’s birth at the Lwani health centre in Bandundu, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Photograph: Gwenn Dubourthoumieu/Unicef

Dr Baktygul Pakirova watches Jiydegul hold her newborn son, Nurdan. After two days in hospital, mother and son will be ready to go home. Unicef estimates approximately 1 million newborns around the world died on their first day of life last year. Kyrgyzstan remains an example of how small solutions save newborn lives
Photograph: Vladimir Voronin/Unicef

A baby born prematurely in the Bishkek maternity hospital in Kyrgyzstan. The country has achieved impressive results in eradicating newborn mortality. From 1990-2016, the neonatal mortality rate was cut in half – from 24 to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births
Photograph: Vladimir Voronin/Unicef

Fatna Abdurhaman (left) discusses newborn care with Nura Mustafa during a mother-to-mother support group held at a Unicef-supported health post in Ashura, in the remote Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia. The region’s newborn mortality rate fell by nearly 50% between 2000 and 2016, from 65 deaths for every 1,000 live births to 35 deaths for every 1,000 live births. The improvement is due in part to the reach and skill of Ethiopia’s health extension workers, who provide free pre- and postnatal care at community sites such as this one
Photograph: Mulugeta Ayene/Unicef