The rate of decline in mortality among the world’s youngest children has more than doubled over a generation， and an additional 38 million lives could be saved by 2030 if progress accelerates further， in line with the Sustainable Development Goals （SDGs） world leaders are set to approve later this month.

Data from UNICEF’s A Promise Renewed： 2015 Progress Report show that since 2000， when governments committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals （MDGs）， the lives of 48 million children under the age of five have been saved. This remarkable progress is the result of sustained action by leaders – to make saving children’s lives a policy and a political priority， to improve and use data about child survival， and to scale up proven interventions.

The number of children who die from mostly preventable causes before they turn five now stands at 5.9 million a year – a 53 per cent drop since 1990. At 3.9 percent the global annual rate of reduction of under-five mortality between 2000 and 2015 was more than twice as high as what it was in the 1990s.

Some of the world’s poorest countries have demonstrated that substantial reductions in child mortality can be achieved despite formidable obstacles：

- 24 out of 81 low- and lower-middle income countries， including Cambodia， Ethiopia， Bangladesh and Uganda， achieved the MDG of reducing the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds or more.*

- Between 2000 and 2015， twenty-one sub-Saharan African countries reversed a rising mortality trend or at least tripled their pace of progress compared to the 1990s.

“Saving the lives of millions of children in urban and rural settings， in wealthy and poor countries， is one of the first great achievements of the new millennium -- and one of the biggest challenges of the next 15 years is to further accelerate this progress” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Yoka Brandt. “The data tell us that millions of children do not have to die -- if we focus greater effort on reaching every child.”

Simple， high-impact， cost effective solutions that contributed to this dramatic reduction of under-five deaths include skilled antenatal， delivery and postnatal care； breastfeeding； immunization； insecticide-treated mosquito nets； improved water and sanitation； oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoea； antibiotics for pneumonia； nutritional supplements and therapeutic foods.

Despite this impressive progress， the world has not met the MDG target of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds.

Between 1990 and the end of 2015， an estimated 236 million children will have died from mostly preventable causes before turning five. Today， leading causes of under-five deaths include prematurity； pneumonia； complications during labour and delivery； diarrhoea； and malaria. Under-nutrition contributes to nearly half of all under-five deaths.

The SDGs challenge countries to significantly increase their efforts to bring rates of under-five mortality down to 25 deaths （or fewer） per 1，000 live births by 2030. By picking up the pace， especially in countries that are lagging， the world stands to save the lives of 38 million more children under the age of five.

*Low income countries are： Cambodia， Ethiopia， Eritrea， Liberia， Madagascar， Malawi， Mozambique， Nepal， Niger， Rwanda， Uganda， and the United Republic of Tanzania. Lower-middle income countries are： Armenia， Bangladesh， Bhutan， Bolivia （Plurinational State of）， Egypt， El Salvador， Georgia， Indonesia， Kyrgyzstan； Nicaragua； Timor-Leste； Yemen.

較上一代人而言，如今全球嬰幼兒死亡率降幅是先前的兩倍以上。如果進一步加快前進的腳步，到2030年，又將有3，800萬生命得以挽救，與全球目標取得一致。

聯(lián)合國兒童基金會《重申承諾：2015進展報告》的數(shù)據(jù)表明：2000年以來，各國政府致力于千年發(fā)展目標（MDG）的實現(xiàn)，使得4，800萬名五歲以下兒童的生命得以挽救。盡管成績斐然，但是千年發(fā)展目標中將五歲以下兒童死亡率降低三分之二的目標尚未在全球范圍內(nèi)實現(xiàn)。

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