Progress for Children Save the Children is proud to have played a role in some unprecedented global successes for children in recent decades. Today … Half as many children under age 5 die each year as compared to 1960. Immunization prevents 2 million child deaths a year. Most of the world is polio free. The number of children who can read and write has increased by nearly 50 percent. But still, every day … Almost 30,000 children under age 5 die from preventable causes, such as diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia and malnutrition. 77 million – the majority of them girls – are not attending school. More than 600,000 children in the developing world live in families that must survive on less than $1 a day. 1 in 6 children in the United States lives in poverty. Plus, new challenges threaten advances made so far … HIV and AIDS have already jeopardized the well-being of tens of millions of children in the developing world and could reverse decades of progress in economic and social development. Millions of children live in places where wars and natural disasters force them to witness and endure unspeakable horrors. If children survive, they often suffer physical and emotional trauma that can haunt them the rest of their lives. Ways to Help  Commemorative Items ►  Become a Sponsor ►  Support Our Work ►