LONDON -- Hundreds of millions of children around the world are growing up ill-prepared to make a decent life for themselves because they lack basic education, UNICEF said in its annual report published on Tuesday.

The United Nations Children's Fund said more than 130 million children of primary school age in developing countries, including 73 million girls, were growing up without access to basic education."Basic education has the power to save lives as surely as any vaccine," UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said in London.

"This year's report shows graphically that for millions and millions of children education is literally a matter of life and death," Bellamy said.

UNICEF, in its annual report entitled "The State of the World's Children," said nearly a billion people, or a sixth of humanity, were already classified as functionally illiterate.

Sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia were the two regions with the highest numbers of children out of school, it said.

Referring to findings from throughout the developing world, the 127-page UNICEF report said there was a direct correlation between the number of years of schooling and child mortality rates.

UNICEF said children who grew up without basic education not only found it more difficult to sustain themselves and their families, but also to make their way as adults in society in a spirit of tolerance, understanding and equality.

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It added that denying children the right to a basic education could have far-reaching implications for global peace and prosperity.

"On a society-wide scale, the denial of education harms the cause of democracy and social progress -- and, by extension, international peace and security," said the report.

Girls suffer particularly from a lack of education in developing countries, with women making up some two-thirds of the estimated 855 million adult illiterates throughout the world.

"Education is not only a fundamental human right, it is also the soundest investment we can make in a peaceful and prosperous future -- especially for girls," Bellamy said.

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