KAMPALA — An estimated 3,636 babies were born in Uganda on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2021, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This is a 7.26 per cent decrease from 2020, when an estimated 3,900 were born the first day of the year.
As the calendar turns to 2021, UNICEF is again celebrating the new lives being brought into the world. Due to its geographical location, Fiji in the Pacific will welcome 2021’s first baby. Globally, over half of the babies born on 1 January are estimated to take place in 10 countries: India (59,995), China (35,615), Nigeria (21,439), Pakistan (14,161), Indonesia (12,336), Ethiopia (12,006), the United States (10,312), Egypt (9,455), Bangladesh (9,236), and Democratic Republic of the Congo (8,640).
In its 2021-2025 Country Programme, UNICEF in Uganda will continue to prioritize services and care for the country’s most vulnerable children
Ugandan babies will account for 0.9 per cent of the estimated 371,504 babies to be born on New Year’s Day. Their average life expectancy is 74.4 years.
“The past year has been difficult for all of us, and there is perhaps no better way to turn the page than to welcome new young lives into the world,” said Laura Siegrist Fouché, the interim UNICEF Representative in Uganda.
“With the challenges of 2020 behind us and the opportunities of 2021 before us, now is the time to begin the task of building a better world, starting today.”
The year 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of UNICEF’s founding. Over the course of the year, UNICEF and its partners will be commemorating the anniversary with events and announcements celebrating three-quarters of a century of protecting children from conflict, disease, while exclusion, and championing their right to survival, health, and education.
Today, as the world faces unprecedented challenges caused by rising poverty and inequality—both made worse by the pandemic and economic slowdown—UNICEF’s work is needed now more than ever.
“There is no more appropriate year than this—the year of UNICEF’s 75th anniversary—to renew our commitment to each other, and to the young lives who will inherit the world we leave,” said Ms. Fouché.
“2021 will be a critical year for children, but UNICEF’s three-quarters of a century of delivering results for children around the world are a testament to what we can accomplish together.”
