A 2017 report by <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.savethechildren.org%2Fatf%2Fcf%2F%257B9def2ebe-10ae-432c-9bd0-df91d2eba74a%257D%2FSAVETHECHILDREN_ENDOFCHILDHOOD_INDEX_2017_EASTAFRICA%2520EDITION_LOWRES.PDF" target="_blank" target="_blank">Save the Children</a> ranked 172 countries from best to worst in an effort to explore the main reasons why childhood comes to an early end in certain places. Here are countries that ranked highest and lowest.<br /><br /><strong>Norway: </strong>A woman kisses her 4-month-old son in Oslo. Fewer than 0.3% of children die before the age of 5 in Norway.
A 2017 report by Save the Children ranked 172 countries from best to worst in an effort to explore the main reasons why childhood comes to an early end in certain places. Here are countries that ranked highest and lowest.

Norway: A woman kisses her 4-month-old son in Oslo. Fewer than 0.3% of children die before the age of 5 in Norway.
Helene Negaard/Save the Children
<strong>Finland: </strong>A 2-year-old at her public day care in Helsinki. Only 2% of primary- and secondary-school-age children are out of school in Finland.
Finland: A 2-year-old at her public day care in Helsinki. Only 2% of primary- and secondary-school-age children are out of school in Finland.
Ilse Holm/Save the Children
<strong>The Netherlands: </strong>A woman and her 2-hour-old baby in The Hague. The Netherlands has a child homicide rate of 0.3 deaths per 100,000 people 19 years old or younger.
The Netherlands: A woman and her 2-hour-old baby in The Hague. The Netherlands has a child homicide rate of 0.3 deaths per 100,000 people 19 years old or younger.
Hans Guldemond/Save the Children
<strong>Sweden:</strong> A child learns to ride a bike in Sweden, where nobody is forcibly displaced by conflict.
Sweden: A child learns to ride a bike in Sweden, where nobody is forcibly displaced by conflict.
Oskar Kullander/Save the Children
<strong>Niger:</strong> A baby with acute malnutrition drinks fresh, clean water in Agui. Here, 43% of children up to age 5 have stunted growth from malnourishment.
Niger: A baby with acute malnutrition drinks fresh, clean water in Agui. Here, 43% of children up to age 5 have stunted growth from malnourishment.
Talitha Brauer/Save the Children
<strong>Angola: </strong>Children collect plastic and cardboard among the trash in Luanda province. Here, more than 10% of children die before their 5th birthdays.
Angola: Children collect plastic and cardboard among the trash in Luanda province. Here, more than 10% of children die before their 5th birthdays.
Boris Heger/Save the Children
<strong>Mali: </strong>A 12-year-old girl had to leave school after fighting broke out in her village, leaving her displaced in another village in central Mali. In this country, 47.3% of kids are out of school.
Mali: A 12-year-old girl had to leave school after fighting broke out in her village, leaving her displaced in another village in central Mali. In this country, 47.3% of kids are out of school.
Save the Children
<strong>Central African Republic: </strong>A young boy carries water in the midday sun at a camp for internally displaced persons in Bangui. Here, 19.3% of the population is displaced by conflict.
Central African Republic: A young boy carries water in the midday sun at a camp for internally displaced persons in Bangui. Here, 19.3% of the population is displaced by conflict.
Mark Kaye/Save the Children
<strong>Somalia: </strong>A former child bride, now 16, holds her 2-month-old daughter outside her family's home. Somalia has an adolescent birth rate of 102.6 births per 1,000 girls 15 to 19. In the United States, that rate is 21.2 births per 1,000 girls. In Sweden, it's 5.7 births per 1,000 girls.
Somalia: A former child bride, now 16, holds her 2-month-old daughter outside her family's home. Somalia has an adolescent birth rate of 102.6 births per 1,000 girls 15 to 19. In the United States, that rate is 21.2 births per 1,000 girls. In Sweden, it's 5.7 births per 1,000 girls.
Save the Children