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The
Millennium Development Goals For more information on the MDGs Fast
Facts about Extreme Poverty More than
1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day. In total, 2.7
billion people struggle to survive on less than $2 a day. Poverty in the
developing world, however, goes far beyond income poverty. It means having to
walk more than a mile every day simply to collect water and firewood, and
suffering from diseases that were eradicated from rich countries decades ago.
Every year, eleven million children die, most of whom
are under the age of 5. More than six million of these children die from
completely preventable or treatable causes like malaria, diarrhea, and
pneumonia. In some
deeply impoverished nations, less than half of the children are in primary
school, and less than 20% go to secondary school. Around the world, a total
of 114 million children do not get even a basic education, and 584 million
women are illiterate. The
following are some basic facts outlining the roots and manifestations of the
poverty affecting more than 1/3 of our world. Health · Every year, 6 million children die from malnutrition before their 5th
birthday. · More than 50% of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as
cholera and infant diarrhea. · Every day, HIV/AIDS kills 6,000 people and another 8,200 people are
infected with this deadly virus. · Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria-more than 1 million
child deaths a year. · Each year, approximately 300500 million people are infected with
malaria. Approximately 3 million people die as a result. · TB is the leading AIDS-related killer, and in some parts of Africa,
75% of people with HIV also have TB. Hunger · More than 800 million people go to bed
hungry every day, of which 300 million are children. · Of these 300 million children, only 8% are victims of famine or other
emergency situations. More than 90% are suffering long-term malnourishment
and micronutrient deficiency. · Every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation. The large
majority of these children are under the age of 5. Water · More than 2.6 billion people over 40% of
the world's population do not have basic sanitation, and more than 1 billion
people · 4 out of every 10 people in the world don't have access even to a
simple latrine. · 5 million people, mostly children, die each year from water-borne
diseases. Agriculture · In 1960, Africa was a net exporter of food;
today the continent imports 1/3 of its grain. · More than 40% of Africans do not even have the ability to obtain
sufficient food on a day-to-day basis. · Declining soil fertility, land degradation, and the AIDS pandemic
have led to a 23% decrease in food production per capita · For the African farmer, conventional fertilizers cost 26 times more
than the world market price. The Devastating Effect of Poverty on Women · More than 80% of farmers in Africa are women. · More than 40% of women in Africa do not have access to basic
education. · If a girl is educated for six years or more, as an adult her prenatal
care, postnatal care, and childbirth survival rates, will dramatically and
consistently improve. · Educated mothers immunize their children 50% more often than mothers
who are not educated. · HIV/AIDS spreads twice as quickly among uneducated girls than among
girls that have even some schooling. · The children of a woman with five years of primary school education
have a survival rate 40% higher than children of women · A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in
pregnancy. This compares with a 1 in 3,700 risk for a woman from North
America. · Every minute, a woman somewhere dies in pregnancy or childbirth. This
adds up to 1,400 women dying each day- · Almost half of births in developing countries take place without the
help of a skilled birth attendant. (Source: UN Millennium Project) |