Global Issues
One in every six people struggles to survive on less than a dollar a day. Extreme poverty presents endless challenges to the people it afflicts, from finding the next meal to getting a life-saving vaccine. Just as poverty takes various forms, it also has many causes, and understanding them is the first step in helping those in need. So before you attack the problem, take some time to learn about poverty, its roots and possible solutions.
World Hunger
Over 850 million people in the world are undernourished. This equals roughly 14 percent of the world’s population. However, there is enough food in the world today for every man, woman and child to lead a healthy and productive life. Individuals do not get the food they need because distribution is not equal, and they live in places where there is a lack of resources.
Defining hunger
Hunger is a feeling a person experiences from not getting enough to eat. Most people who battle hunger suffer from chronic undernourishment and vitamin or mineral deficiencies, resulting in stunted growth, weakness and heightened vulnerability to illness. This affects their long-term physical health and mental capacity.
Different kinds of hunger
Hunger can cause undernourishment and malnutrition. People who are undernourished live under the recommended 2100 calories a day for an extended period of time. When an individual is undernourished, she is not able to function physically and mentally in the same way a person who eats properly does. Malnutrition is a medical state that an individual can be in when they have inadequate diet, or from certain types of infections, or both. Malnutrition is about the quality of the food that a person receives, not just about quantity.
Acute malnutrition is a result of a rapid decrease in food intake. It is a dangerous condition that requires immediate care, increases susceptibility to disease and leads to death if treatment is not administered.
Who hunger affects
Hunger disproportionately affects people who are living in extreme poverty. The majority of people who are undernourished live in developing countries. Children less than 5 years old are the most sensitive to malnutrition. The next most vulnerable population is women who are pregnant or breast-feeding.
What causes hunger?
In examining the issue of hunger, one must consider the quantity and quality of food, as well as access to food and other resources such as tools, land, and cash. Basically, hunger is about individuals who do not have enough resources to have adequate food throughout the year.
Sustainable solutions
Solutions can come in many different forms and sizes. Ending world hunger will require short-term interventions as well as long-term solutions. It will take a coordinated, long-term, global effort of people, communities, businesses, and governments to accomplish this. It is important for individuals in developed countries to work in partnership with families and communities to develop creative and local solutions to combat poverty and overcome hunger.
Global Poverty
What is Poverty?
There are plenty of statistics and data about global poverty--these are just a few:
- Each year, more than 8 million people around the world die because they are too poor to stay alive.
- Over 1 billion people—1 in 6 people around the world—live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1 a day.
- More than 800 million go hungry each day.
- Over 100 million primary school-age children cannot go to school.
Based on definitions established by the World Bank (see sidebar), nearly 3 billion people—half of the world's population—are considered poor. But poverty isn't simply a numbers game. It's about scores of men, women and children enduring unimaginable obstacles that keep them from fulfilling their most basic human rights and achieving their individual potentials.
When the United Nations created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, signatories proclaimed that all people have the right to education, work, health and well-being. But today, millions around the world are too crippled by poverty to fulfill these basic rights. Millions continue to go hungry. Scores of children never step inside a classroom. Families watch their loved ones die from largely preventable causes because they do not have access to adequate medical care. In essence, poverty is a denial of human rights.
A Global Partnership to Fight Poverty
According to the United Nations and its affiliated development experts, an end to extreme poverty can be achieved. Effectively tackling global poverty demands a multi-pronged approach and there is no single cure-all. Issues of poverty are many and complex: Initiatives must address interwoven but distinct issues such as children's rights, women's rights, epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, access to clean water and sanitation, and preservation of the world's natural resources—just to name a few.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed to by the international community in 2000, represent an unprecedented opportunity for the world to usher in a new era of collaboration in fighting poverty. The Goals set forth concrete targets for significantly reducing extreme poverty and related ills by 2015. We are now one-third of the way to the deadline, and with just a decade to go, there is much work to be done.
Based on current trends, most developing countries will fail to meet the majority of the MDG's by 2015. The world has heralded 2005 as a milestone year in the fight against poverty, and has even been given the moniker of "The Year of Development.".
Many believe that achieving the MDGs must involve a real and measurable focus on Goal 8: partnerships for development. Governments working together with civil society, multilateral institutions and private sector entities is not just a nice idea, it is indeed what is needed to make poverty history.
Access to Education
Education is one of the most effective ways to fight global poverty, yet today more than 100 million children worldwide are not in school. Girls in particular face significant barriers to education and make up over 60 percent of the world's unschooled children. While the forces that keep these children out of school are formidable, the international community has the power to fulfill the promise of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and guarantee every child access to education by 2015.
Why is education key to ending global poverty?
Education broadens employment opportunities, increases income levels, improves child and maternal health, promotes smaller families and helps to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS. Children of educated mothers are 50 percent more likely to live past the age of five.
The benefits of education extend beyond the family to the larger community and even to the nation. Increasing the number of children who finish school leads to economic growth, social and political stability, a decline in crime rates and improved social services.
What obstacles prevent children from going to school?
There is no single obstacle that accounts for the millions of children who are denied an education every year, but there are some common ones. School fees and the cost of books and uniforms are too high for many families. Often, children must work to help support their families and have no time for studies. Sometimes, particularly in rural areas, there are no local schools or they are too far away.
The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS poses a growing challenge to global education efforts. Teachers living with the virus may become sick or die, leaving children with no viable learning alternative. At home, young people are forced to give up their studies in order to care for family members who have fallen ill. Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS have to take on adult duties like caring for siblings and working, leaving little time for schooling.
Putting children in school is only the first step toward guaranteeing that they receive a quality education. Classrooms in poor countries are often overcrowded, with students outnumbering educators by as much as 60 to 1. Additionally, many teachers lack adequate training and skills, classrooms are in dire need of attention and repair, supplies are lacking or not age-appropriate and income for teachers is on the decline. All of these factors contribute to a high dropout rate and detract from the children's learning experience.
What is the state of education today?
In 2000, the international community committed itself to guarantee universal access to education by 2015 through two agreements: the Millennium Development Goals and the World Education Forum.
Since that time, total spending on education has increased dramatically and millions more children are in school. Countries that have eliminated school fees like Kenya and Uganda have doubled or even tripled their school enrollment. Even with these gains, UNESCO predicts that at the current rates of progress universal primary education will not be achieved by 2015. According to the 2006 Education For All Global Monitoring Report, which measures global progress toward the goals set in 2000, 47 out of 163 countries have achieved universal primary education and 20 countries are on track for 2015. 44 additional countries are making good progress on education, but are unlikely to achieve the goal by 2015. These advances are incredibly encouraging, and show what can be achieved. However, 23 countries, the overwhelming majority of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are not only unlikely to achieve universal primary education, but show declining enrollment rates.
How can we achieve education for all?
The international community holds the key to meeting the goal of education for all children. At present, international aid for basic education is estimated to be $4.7 billion per year, far short of the estimated $7 billion per year required to meet the goals.
Achieving education for all is possible, but it will require fully funding the policies and programs, such as the elimination of school fees and food stipend programs, that have proven successful. With the support of governments, development groups and everyday people, committed nations have demonstrated that they can meet the challenge of providing all children with an education.
What does your support provide?
Your support provides children, their families and communities with the infrastructure, training, tools, services and support they need for a better education:
- Quality daycares and primary schools;
- Classroom equipment and furniture;
- Teaching and learning materials, including current textbooks, maps, globes, teaching manuals, writing supplies, chalkboards, etc.;
- Playgrounds and other recreational areas for children;
- Training for teachers, principals, and child care providers;
- Scholarships for students, especially for girls;
- And capacity building of parent-teacher associations and school management committees.
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HIV / AIDS
Since HIV was first documented in 1981, more than 20 million people— men, women and children—have died of AIDS. According to the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), at the end of 2004, an estimated 39.4 million people around the world were living with HIV. This includes the 4.9 million people newly infected in 2004—roughly the same number of people living in the state of Colorado.
It's clear that the virus knows no boundaries or limitations: HIV has spread across the globe, devastating many people who were already grappling with inequality and poverty. About 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in poor countries, where development progress is being reversed by the impact of the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region and is home to about 65 percent of the total number of people living with HIV worldwide. Second only to South Africa, India has an HIV-positive population of about 5.1 million.
Mercilessly, HIV/AIDS has a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable: women and children. Women, as a proportion of all adults living with HIV/AIDS, increased from 43 percent in 1998 to 48 percent in 2003, and the proportion continues to rise. Around the world, an estimated 7,000 women are infected with HIV everyday—the majority are young, school-age girls living in impoverished conditions.
The AIDS pandemic has robbed more than 14 million children worldwide of their families, their childhood, and all too often, hope for the future. According to UNAIDS, that's the equivalent of every child under five in America living without a mom or dad to care for them.
The impact of the epidemic is both all-encompassing and complex: HIV/AIDS doesn't just attack individuals, it rips apart families, uproots children and devastates communities. Teachers get sick and can't teach their students; mothers and fathers can't go to work and earn money to put food on the table; children must stay home to serve as caregivers for their family; stigma and discrimination isolate people at-risk of infection and those who are HIV-positive.
Without the availability of a cure or viable vaccine, the HIV/AIDS pandemic will have claimed a total of 65 million lives by 2020. Through the Millennium Development Goals, the international community pledged to roll back the climbing rates of HIV by 2015; however, current estimates show that the rate is increasing in every part of the globe, including the United States. Despite advances in treatment, most people with HIV/AIDS can't afford medicine or healthcare, speeding the impact of the disease.
The international community must act without delay to halt the spread of the virus and in doing so, save lives, families, communities and entire countries from needless devastation.
How does your support help?
Your support helps provide children, families and communities with the tools they need to fight and face HIV/AIDS:
- Information, education and communication activities to raise community awareness about HIV/AIDS;
- HIV testing and counseling;
- Assistance to people living with AIDS, including medical treatment and income-generating activities;
- Counseling for HIV positive parents and guardians;
- Support (i.e. education, food, income support and counseling) to child-headed households;
- Psychosocial support to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS;
- Care, protection and support to children affected by and orphaned by AIDS, and much more.
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