Hard Facts on Poverty

Poverty

1. The estimated number of child deaths worldwide each day linked to extreme poverty: 26,575 or one child every three seconds
2. There is a goal for every rich country to give 0.7% of its Gross National Income (GNI) to poorer countries. The percentage of GNI that Canada gives: 0.30% in 2006, down from 0.34% in 2005

Hunger and Malnutrition

• The number of people in the world who suffer from chronic malnutrition: 852 million
  In developing regions of the world, the percentage of children under five who are underweight: 28%
• In Canada, the percentage of children who are overweight or obese: 26%

Water

• At the start of the 21st century, the world's second biggest killer of children: unclean water
• The number of people worldwide without access to safe water: 1.1 billion
• The approximate number of children who die every year as a result of diarrhea and other conditions caused by unclean water and poor sanitation: 1.8 million
• Average amount of water used by a person living in a developing country: 10 litres per day
• Average daily amount of water used by someone living in Canada: 335 litres
• Funding required to reach the goal of providing clean drinking water for everyone in the world: $10 billion to $30 billion US additional funding annually

HIV and AIDS

• The number of people living with HIV in the world, as of 2006: 39.5 million
• The number of people in sub-Saharan Africa living with HIV, as of 2006: 24.7 million (nearly 90% of all infected children live in sub-Saharan Africa)
• The estimated number of children, under 15, living with HIV worldwide: 2.3 million (each day 1,400 children die of AIDS-related illnesses-roughly one child every minute, and another 1,500 become infected)
• The estimated number of Canadians (adults and children) infected with HIV, as of 2006: 58,000 (one new infection every 2 hours)
• Worldwide, out of every 10 children needing antiretroviral treatment (ART), the number that receives it: 1 out of 10
• The number of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS: more than 15 million (the number is projected to reach 20 million by 2010)

Education

• The number of primary school-aged children worldwide who are not in school: 115 million
• The percentage of girls in the world's poorest countries that have no access to primary education: 46%
• The average number of years of formal education for a child in Mozambique versus for a child in Canada: 3 years versus 13 to 16 years
• The percentage of disabled children in developing countries who receive an education: 2%
• The more educated a mother is, the more healthy the mother and the child. For every 100 children born to illiterate mothers, the number who do not survive past the age of 5: 50 (1 in 2 dies).
• The number of cases of HIV and AIDS that could be prevented in the next decade if every child received a primary education: 7 million
• The estimated amount of additional aid money required annually to reach the goal of universal primary education: $10 billion US
• The amount of money Americans spend on ice cream each year: $20 billion US
• The percentage of yearly global spending on weapons that would put every child into school (as of 2000): 1%

Children Affected by Conflict

• The number of children, under the age of 18, currently serving in government forces or armed rebel groups, as of 2006: 300,000
• The number of countries where children are currently serving in armed forces, as of 2006: 36
• The number of children who have been forced to flee their homes and live as refugees: 9 million
• The number of children affected by armed conflict that do not have access to formal education, as of 2006: 27 million
• The number of children who suffered from malnutrition or loss of education due to conflict during the 1990s: more than 100 million