IGME releases child and youth mortality estimates annually. As the organizations examine the latest levels and trends in child mortality and highlight what has been achieved, we must also ask critical questions. How has progress in reducing under-five mortality fared in the first half of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) era? How many deaths took place in situations where children’s lives were being affected by inequity, crisis, fragility and conflict? Which children continued to endure dramatically different odds of survival based on where they were born? With the clock ticking down to 2030, which countries need to accelerate progress to reach mortality targets in time?
Our ability to answer these questions – and ensure the accuracy and completeness of these levels and trends in child mortality – would be improved with timelier and more high-quality data. Availability of these data is vital to achieving the SDGs’ vision of no child being left behind, as data provide the cornerstone of evidence-based policies and programming.
Better data are urgently needed in settings where child survival is most at risk. Recent pandemics and conflicts serve as stark reminders that uninterrupted mortality decline is precarious, requiring unyielding commitment and investment, including in data and statistical systems.
Organizations and individuals involved in generating country-specific estimates of child mortality:
(Individual contributors are listed alphabetically)
United Nations Children’s Fund
Lucia Hug, Yang Liu, Wanli Nie, David Sharrow, Danzhen You
World Health Organization
Bochen Cao, Doris Ma Fat, Jessica Ho, Wahyu Retno Mahanani, Kathleen Strong, Haidong Wang
World Bank Group
Emi Suzuki
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division
Dennis Butler, Camille Dorion, Patrick Gerland, Sara Hertog, Yumiko Kamiya, Vladimira Kantorova, Kyaw Kyaw Lay, Pablo Lattes, Joseph Molitoris, Suryanarayana Murthy Palacharla, Tim Riffe, Thomas Spoorenberg, Mark Wheldon, Iván Williams, Lubov Zeifman
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Population Division
Helena Cruz Castanheira
Copyright © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2020
ISBN: 978-92-806-5147-8
Copyright © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2023
ISBN: 978-92-806-5422-6
ISBN: 978-92-806-5542-1