The 5 worst countries in the world to be a child are all in Africa

A child in Africa is 20 times more likely to die before age 5 than one in the United States. That is according to statistics from the international NGO, Save the Children

Sub Saharan Africa ranks top on the table of unsafe places to be a kid.

Save the Children ranked 172 countries based on where childhood is most protected as well as the contrary.

With the use of government and United Nations data, researchers looked at indicators like mortality for children under the age of 5, malnutrition, access to schooling, child labor, early marriage, displacement from conflict, and child homicide.

European countries like Norway, Slovenia, and Finland rank first while Niger, Angola, and Mali came in last.

Amongst the list of dangerous places to be a kid, 7 were in West and Central Africa.

Country                                                      Rank

Guinea                                                        163

Sierra Leone                                                163

Burkina Faso                                                165

South Sudan                                               166

Chad                                                           167

Somalia                                                        168

Central African Republic                                169

Mali                                                               170

Angola                                                          171

Niger                                                            172

The highest rates of child mortality are in African countries like Angola, Chad, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the Central African Republic, where 10% or more of children die before their fifth birthday.

This rate is at least 40 times that of Finland or Japan. Countries in Africa also have the highest rates of child labor and child marriage.

This article was written by Desmond Frimpong.