ABSTRACT
Infant and child mortality rates (IMR) are one of the best indicators of socioeconomic development, as many of a nation's population characteristics, including life expectancy at birth, are determined by infants' and children's survival rates. IMRs are used as an indicator of a country's state of health. The child and infant mortality indicators also show how governments prioritize the health and well-being of their children and how a society treats its vulnerable members. The dependent variables in the model are the infant and child mortality rates. The association between conflict and child and infant mortality is to be expected; countries in armed conflict witness the destruction of their health infrastructures and loss of health personnel. Infant mortality is expressed as the number of infant deaths per 1,000 live births, and child mortality as the number of children who die by the age of five per 1,000 live births per year.
