“There’s been some analysis showing that the countries that have made the biggest progress (in saving children’s lives) are ones who have invested in getting girls into school. There’s quite a strong correlation between the education of a mother and the survival of her child.” This is a statement from Mickey Chopra, Associate Director of UNICEF’s Health Division quoted in today’s Washington Post story on the findings of a joint report by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Populations Fund and the World Bank. The report Level & Trends in Child Mortality 2012 (pdf) was launched along with UNICEF’s 2012 Progress Report entitled Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed (pdf) Both reports show that child mortality worldwide has fallen 41 percent since 1990. This is a remarkable achievement, and according to the UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake was “due to the work and dedication of many, including governments, donors, agencies and families. Yet he cautioned that “there is also unfinished business: Millions of children under five are still dying each year from largely preventable causes for which there are proven, affordable interventions.” The Global Partnership for Education’s (GPE) new Strategic Plan re-emphasizes our partners’ commitment to increasing girls access to a good quality education, although it has long been a core focus of our partners’ work in GPE’s 52 developing country partner nations. The reports specifically cite education as an effective way to reduce deaths because the greatest benefits for child survival are obtained when girls’ and women’s education programmes are undertaken together with poverty-reduction efforts. If we are to continue to improve child survival, “greater efforts are particularly required in populous countries with high mortality. In addition to medical and nutritional factors, improvements in other areas – notably education, access to clean water and adequate sanitation, adequate food, child protection and women’s empowerment – will also improve prospects for child survival and development,” says UNICEF in a press statement.