India to host UNICEF global meet on maternal and child health

"India has performed better than rest of the world in this field and the number of children dying under-five years has fallen by 30 per cent since 2012, from 1.4 million to 989,000," he said.

According to a new report by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), the under-five mortality rate in India was recorded below one million in 2017 for the first time in five years.

Gupta said the Forum, which will be held on December 12 and 13 at Vigyan Bhawan here, will see participation from heads of states, ministers, popular champions, and 1,200 partners from nearly 100 countries.

"India will get an opportunity to present its success story in improving the maternal and child health (indicators) at a world stage," he said.

Moreover, the forum would also bring various stakeholders on a common stage to share their ideas, he said.

This is the second time India is hosting the forum after 2010. The previous chapters of the Forum have been held at Johannesburg in South Africa in 2014 and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 2007.