This report explores the significant progress on child rights and well-being over the past few decades in the developing world.

There has been much progress in child well-being globally over the past 20 years. Child mortality rates have fallen by over a third and there has been a significant decline in the numbers of children affected by HIV and a major increase in the numbers of children receiving at least primary education and, in many countries, also junior secondary education. There has also been some progress in reducing severe and moderate malnutrition, extending access to water and sanitation and reducing children‘s risk of abuse and exploitation. The scale of progress has varied considerably from region to region, country to country.

Using case studies from the field, analysis outlines what factors underlie this progress. Main drivers of progress include:

• Strong political leadership;
• Significant financial investment;
• Investment in several aspects of child well-being, either in sequence or simultaneously; and,
• Policy and programmatic innovations.

The report concludes with some on-going challenges and outlines recommendations for further action.

The findings have been taken forward and developed into a further report by Save the Children as part of their ‘Why international Aid is so important’ campaign.