A brighter future for everyone.
Education ends generational cycles of poverty and disease and provides a foundation for sustainable development. A quality basic education equips girls and boys with the knowledge and skills they need to adopt healthy lifestyles, protect themselves from HIV and take an active role in social, economic and political decision-making as they transition to adolescence and adulthood. Educated adults are more likely to have smaller and healthier families.
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The world reached an important milestone in child health in 2012 with new estimates showing a 47 percent decline in the under-five mortality rate, from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990, to 48 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012. However, the loss of 18,000 children under age five every day in 2012 is unacceptable, especially when many of these deaths are preventable. And the world is not yet on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target of a two-thirds reduction in the rate of child mortality by 2015.
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All children have the right to be protected from violence, exploitation and abuse. Yet, millions of children worldwide from all socio-economic backgrounds, across all ages, religions and cultures suffer violence, exploitation and abuse every day. Millions more are at risk.
Some girls and boys are particularly vulnerable because of gender, race, ethnic origin or socio-economic status. Higher levels of vulnerability are often associated with children with disabilities, who are orphaned, indigenous, from ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. |