in zones where the occurrence of flooding is extremely high, and nearly oUr neW TarGeTS for 160 million live in zones where the severity of drought is high or extremely 11 Children CannoT Be aChieVed high. The World health organization has projected that approximately UnleSS We MaKe The MoST 250,000 additional deaths will occur annually through 2030 from malnutrition, 12 malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress attributable to climate change. diSadVanTaGed Children a PrioriTY. The challenges of reaching these children with essential services and protection are considerable, but so are the benefits to be gained. and we must reach them. for if we do not, we are likely to see hard-won development gains slip away and watch the consequences of this failure play out across the world. There is no question that progress for the most disadvantaged children and families is the defining condition for delivering on the 2030 goals and determining the future opportunities of generations to come. The time to act is now. Meeting the equity imperative Thirty-five years ago, the first State of the World’s Children report commented on an earlier set of development goals. The question arises, the authors wrote, “as to whether these goals are ... launched with no more than a wing and a 13 prayer or are they validated by hard evidence that they can be achieved?” This report contends that our new targets for children cannot be achieved unless we make the most disadvantaged children a priority, shifting policies, programmes and public spending to promote greater equity. The areas in which children experience inequity are many, but in this report we Aida, 16, and her baby, born focus specifically on three areas that exemplify both the magnitude of the challenge prematurely in Bwaila Hospital in and the immensity of the opportunity to improve the lives of millions of children. Lilongwe, Malawi. The report begins with the most glaring inequity of all – disparities in child © UNICEF/UN018540/Chikondi survival – and goes on to explore the underlying determinants of preventable The STaTe of The World’S Children 2016 5