Women's education can save enormous lives in India: UN

UNITED NATIONS: Improving women's access to quality education could save an enormous number of lives in India and Nigeria which together account for more than a third of child deaths, a UN report has said.

In 2012, 1.41 million children under 5 died in India and 0.83 million in Nigeria. If all women had completed primary education, the under-5 mortality rate would have been 13 per cent lower in India and 11 per cent lower in Nigeria, the 2013/14 Education for All Global Monitoring Report said.

If all women had completed secondary education, it would have been 61 per cent lower in India and 43 per cent lower in Nigeria, saving 1. 23 million children's lives, said the report published by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Education also helps overcome gender biases in political behaviour to deepen democracy, it said.

In India, reducing the gender literacy gap by 40 per cent increased the probability of women standing for state assembly election by 16 per cent and the share of votes that they received by 13 per cent.