Global child mortality declines

Some 6.9 million children died before the age of five last year, compared to 12 million such deaths in 1990. Almost 19,000 under-fives died daily in 2011.

Unicef said some of the reduction was due to poorer countries getting richer.

But some was also due to well-targeted aid such as encouraging breastfeeding or immunizing against common diseases.

The sharpest drops in levels of child mortality were in countries that had received a lot of external assistance.

"If you look at the countries that have achieved the best results - the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Timor Leste and Liberia - those are the top three - I think in all of those three aid has been a very important contributor," said Unicef's UK director, David Bull.

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