This special UNICEF report documents how an alliance of social resources--teachers, organizations, agencies--is beginning to help provide parents throughout the world with health knowledge that will benefit their children. Discussed are: (1) low-cost methods of protecting children's lives and growth which now prevent 2 million child deaths per year; (2) the benefits of the promotion of immunization and oral rehydration therapy; (3) the need for renewed commitment by the industrialized world to help the poorest; (4) the rights of families to knowledge about birth control, disease prevention, smoking, alcohol, and AIDS; (5) ways in which an alliance of agencies, schools, religions, media, and volunteers can bring health knowledge to parents; (6) how community health workers can support women in the developing world; and (7) the importance of the participation of all possible organized resources in "a grand alliance for children." Eight extensive tables of data support the text, and 13 text figures are included. In addition, 18 descriptive panels placed throughout the text describe the efforts of various countries and organizations to improve children's health, or provide progress reports on topics such as AIDS and breastfeeding. Footnotes to the tables, a glossary, a list of data sources, and a list of UNICEF's offices conclude the report. (SKC)