In accordance with a human rights approach based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and armed with the latest evidence-based information, UNICEF has identified and developed this strategic guidance note on the newborn to assist country offices in their work with governments and other partners, to address the question of what must be done to improve newborn survival, and to help identify UNICEF’s role in this important work to reach global commitments. This document is based on the new UNICEF Health & Nutrition Strategy and the UNICEF 2006-2009 Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP). This strategic guidance was developed in cooperation with the Saving Newborn Lives initiative of Save the Children and is based on their technical expertise, research, evaluation and programme modeling experience of the last 5 years.