68 Million Children Under 5 Likely to Die by 2030, Warns UNICEF

The Unicef's Number 11 2015 report, entitled "Progress for Children Beyond Averages: Learning from the MDGS," revealed a number of progress in the fields of nutrition, poverty, primary education, gender equality, child mortality and  maternal health. An equitable world is promising, the report says. Unfortunately, the same report disclosed that despite the said progress, millions of children were left behind.

Millennium Developmental Goals (MDGs) have significant achievements, including the reduction of child and maternal mortality rate and better access to clean drinking water. However, they failed to reach out millions of deprived children and even raised the level of inequality in some countries, The Guardian reports.

There were gaps that have bee narrowed down, but new ones persisted and in some cases widened. These reasons held back Unicef from celebrating a total victory. Unicef is aware of its failures and attributed it to its lack of ambition and strategy.

Anthony Lake, Executive Director of Unicef, said, "In the rush to make that progress, many focused on the easiest-to reach children and communities, not those in greatest need. In doing so, national progress may actually have been slowed."

However, Lake and his team already know where to focus. "Though it was once assumed that reaching the hardest-to-reach was unrealistic, we now know that investing in the most disadvantaged children can actually be more cost-effective."

In a report from The Sun Daily, the inequality within countries has produced uneven opportunities for children. Children from poor families are twice likely to die before their fifth birthday and has the least chance of achieving the minimum reading standards compared to children born of the richest family.

If there is a continuous denial of a fair chance of survival, growth and development, an estimated 68 million children under five will die from preventable causes, 119 million children will remain malnourished and half a billion individuals will still be defecating in the open.

In the Unicef's child mortality report, the rate of child mortality under-five has been reduced by two-thirds since 1990.  But the figures that follow is still dreadful, 16,000 children under 5 years old die every day. Eleven children under 5 die every minute.

The inequalities in status have an influence on child's survival. The report revealed that children living in sub-Saharan Africa have 15 times risk of dying before their fifth birthday compared to children born in countries with high income.  

Even the educational background of mothers matter. It is considered as one of strongest determinants of inequity. Children with uneducated mothers are about two and a half times more likely to die before they turn 5 years old, compared to children with mothers who gained a secondary education or higher.

Children in rural areas are one and a half times more likely to die before their fifth birthday compared to their urban children counterpart.

Sustainable development goals will replace MDGs this year. The agency will take into account the things they learned from the previous years to save lives and change the future, The Guardian has learned.