for those living in extreme poverty. Its a very simple advocasy
awareness campaign that might interest some of your student body.
Its based on the assumption that many of them wil have social
networking, youtube and web presence and could act as voices sharing
some of th facts about global poverty. Heres the Idea.
We want to try and get more people aware of extreme poverty and suffering.
It would be great to get students and young people involved in
spreading the word.
If we can share this idea with friends on contact lists, schools,
people who are interested in human rights it will be good to see the
response.
If you could share this idea with people you think might be interested
in sharing it, we might be able to create more awareness.
If you think its a an idea that could interest some of your members.
please share it, Many thanks
mike
Michael Meegan D Med
www.icross.ie
We need you to be a Voice for the voiceless
Here is the Idea you can get involved in.
Most of us have a web network and access to the Internet through Face
book, Youtube twitter etc.We need your help in sharing the plight of
the poor. You can be as creative and innovative as you can . The more
alternative the better.
Take any of the poverty facts below and come up with a way of sharing
this with people on the net. The more you can share the better. If
you need any help, more information or facts contact us at the email
below. So come up with your presentation on line then share it. We
will also put the link on line with our partner charities at :-
www.newworldinternational.org
www.icross.ie
www.nwikenya.com
www.africa-awakes.com
• A reflection
• A story
• A youtube
• A twitter campaign
• A song
• Poem
You will be able to vote on your favorite entry. Everyone who helps
will get a VOICE OF THE POOR certification.
For more information
newworldinternationaluk@gmail.
enquiries@icross.ie
Looking forward to your ideas
Dr Michael Elmore Meegan
International Director
New World International is a British registered Charity
Registration number British registered charity No: 1126542
HERES THE POVERTY FACTS WE ALL NEED TO SHARE
At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. Source 1
More than 80 percent of the world's population lives in
countries where income differentials are widening.Source 2
The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5
percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for
three-quarters of world income.Source 3
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."Source
Around 27-28 percent 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.
If current trends continue, the Millennium Development Goals
target of halving the proportion of underweight children will be
missed by 30 million children, largely because of slow progress in
Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.Source 5
2.2 billion
Number in poverty
1 billion (every second child)
Shelter, safe water and health
For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
o 640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
o 400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
o 270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)
Children out of education worldwide
121 million
Survival for children
Worldwide,
o 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5
(same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
o 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe
drinking water and adequate sanitation
Health of children
Worldwide,
o 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
o 15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to
the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)
Source 11
Rural areas account for three in every four people living on
less than US$1 a day and a similar share of the world population
suffering from malnutrition. However, urbanization is not synonymous
with human progress. Urban slum growth is outpacing urban growth by a
wide margin.Source 12Approximately half the world's population now
live in cities and towns. In 2005, one out of three urban dwellers
(approximately 1 billion people) was living in slum conditions.Source
13
In developing countries some 2.5 billion people are forced to
rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung—to meet their
energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of
the population depends on traditional biomass for cooking, as do over
half of the populations of India and China.Source 14
Indoor air pollution resulting from the use of solid fuels [by
poorer segments of society] is a major killer. It claims the lives of
1.5 million people each year, more than half of them below the age of
five: that is 4000 deaths a day. To put this number in context, it
exceeds total deaths from malaria and rivals the number of deaths from
tuberculosis.Source 15
In 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of
total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%:
1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity:
Breaking that down further:
Number of people living without electricity
Region Millions without electricity
South Asia 706
Sub-Saharan Africa 547
East Asia 224
Other 101
The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world's
7 richest people
World gross domestic product (world population approximately 6.5
billion) in 2006 was $48.2 trillion in 2006.
* The world's wealthiest countries (approximately 1 billion
people) accounted for $36.6 trillion dollars (76%).
* The world's billionaires — just 497 people (approximately
0.000008% of the world's population) — were worth $3.5 trillion (over
7% of world GDP).
* Low income countries (2.4 billion people) accounted for
just $1.6 trillion of GDP (3.3%)
* Middle income countries (3 billion people) made up the
rest of GDP at just over $10 trillion (20.7%).Source 19
The world's low income countries (2.4 billion people) account for just
2.4% of world exportsSource 20
The total wealth of the top 8.3 million people around the world "rose
8.2 percent to $30.8 trillion in 2004, giving them control of nearly a
quarter of the world's financial assets."
In other words, about 0.13% of the world's population controlled
25% of the world's financial assets in 2004.Source 21
For every $1 in aid a developing country receives, over $25 is spent
on debt repayment.Source 22
51 percent of the world's 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are
corporations.Source 23
The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and
poor of any industrialized nation.
The poorer the country, the more likely it is that debt repayments
are being extracted directly from people who neither contracted the
loans nor received any of the money.Source 25
In 1960, the 20% of the world's people in the richest countries had 30
times the income of the poorest 20% — in 1997, 74 times as much.Source
26
An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance between the richest
and poorest countries was about:
* 3 to 1 in 1820
* 11 to 1 in 1913
* 35 to 1 in 1950
* 44 to 1 in 1973
* 72 to 1 in 1992Source 27
"Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still
chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia
and the Pacific."Source 28
For economic growth and almost all of the other indicators, the last
20 years [of the current form of globalization, from 1980 - 2000] have
shown a very clear decline in progress as compared with the previous
two decades [1960 - 1980]. For each indicator, countries were divided
into five roughly equal groups, according to what level the countries
had achieved by the start of the period (1960 or 1980). Among the
findings:
* Growth: The fall in economic growth rates was most
pronounced and across the board for all groups or countries.
* Life Expectancy: Progress in life expectancy was also
reduced for 4 out of the 5 groups of countries, with the exception of
the highest group (life expectancy 69-76 years).
* Infant and Child Mortality: Progress in reducing infant
mortality was also considerably slower during the period of
globalization (1980-1998) than over the previous two decades.
* Education and literacy: Progress in education also slowed
during the period of globalization.Source 29
A mere 12 percent of the world's population uses 85 percent of its
water, and these 12 percent do not live in the Third World.Source 30
Consider the global priorities in spending in 1998
Global Priority $U.S. Billions
Cosmetics in the United States 8
Ice cream in Europe 11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States 12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17
Business entertainment in Japan 35
Cigarettes in Europe 50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105
Narcotics drugs in the world 400
Military spending in the world 780
And compare that to what was estimated as additional costs to
achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing
countries:
Global Priority $U.S. Billions
Basic education for all 6
Water and sanitation for all 9
Reproductive health for all women 12
Basic health and nutrition 13
o China's poverty rate fell from 85% to 15.9%, or by over
600 million people
o China accounts for nearly all the world's reduction in poverty
o Excluding China, poverty fell only by around 10%
The use of the poverty line of $1 a day had long come under
criticism for seeming arbitrary and using poor quality and limited
data thus risking an underestimate of poverty. The $1.25 a day level
is accompanied with some additional explanations and reasoning,
including that it is a common level found amongst the poorest
countries, and that $2.50 represents a typical poverty level amongst
many more developing countries.
The $10 dollar a day figure above is close to poverty levels in
the US, so is provided here to give a more global perspective to these
numbers, although the World Bank has felt it is not a meaningful
number for the poorest because they are unfortunately unlikely to
reach that level any time soon.
