UN Photo/Stuart Price

Some may have seen my most recent article providing some highlights of a new UNICEF report on the global progress in reducing child mortality since 1990.

As always with rich reports like these, there is too much valuable info to squeeze into one article, so I’m making use of this space to draw attention to some more statistics that I think are worth mentioning.

For example:

:: Half of all under-five deaths occur in only five countries.

:: These countries are India, DRC, Nigeria, Pakistan and China.

:: 40 percent of all children dying under the age of five die within the first 28 days after birth.

:: UNICEF estimates that by 2050 one in three children will be born in sub-Saharan Africa.

Now, onto some positive news. Here are 12 former high-mortality countries that have made strides in reducing under-five mortality and are close to achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 by 2015.

Percentages are reduction:

Laos:                  72 percent     (MDG 4 achieved)

Timor Leste:      70 percent     (MDG 4 achieved)

Liberia:              68 percent     (MDG 4 achieved)

Bangladesh:      67 percent     (MDG 4 achieved)

Rwanda:           65 percent

Nepal:               64 percent

Malawi:             64 percent

Cambodia:        64 percent

Madagascar:     62 percent

Bhutan:             61 percent

Ethiopia:           61 percent

Niger:                60 percent