According to UNICEF, 26,500 - 30,000 children die EACH DAY due to poverty. "And they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death."
About 27-28% of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Each year there are 350-500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities (90% of fatalities in Africa).
Water problems affect half of humanity. Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometer (but not in their house or yard), consume around 20 liters per day. In the United Kingdom, the average person uses more than 50 liters of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day).
The highest average water use in the world is in the United States, at 600 liters a day.
Millions of women spend several hours a day collecting water, and to these human costs can be added the massive economic waste associated with the water and sanitation deficit.
Sub-Saharan Africa loses about 5% of GDP (about 28.4 billion annually) through the cost associated with health spending, productivity losses and labor diversions.
Number of children in the world: 2.2 billion
Number of children in poverty: 1 billion
Convinced yet???
(information directly from www.globalissues.org)
