Children living in poverty

Today, over 22,000 children died around the world

Background facts that are behind the policy ad planning of CROSS work


Today, over 22,000 children died around the world

Below are important facts about poverty


* This page: http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-22000-children-died-around-the-world.
* To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
o http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/715

Over 22,000 children die every day around the world.

That is equivalent to:

* 1 child dying every 4 seconds
* 15 children dying every minute
* A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring almost every 10 days
* A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 10 days
* An Iraq-scale death toll every 18–43 days
* Just under 8.1 million children dying every year
* Some 88 million children dying between 2000 and 2009

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Despite the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

This web page has the following sub-sections:

1. Some more numbers on the state of the world’s children
2. Why is this tragedy not in the headlines?
3. Recent headlines in context
4. About Child Deaths
5. Why is child mortality important to understand?
6. Cautious optimism in reducing child mortality
7. Notes and Sources
1. Sources for child deaths
2. Sources for Haiti comparison
3. Sources for Asia Tsunami comparison
4. Sources for Iraq comparison
8. Related Information

Some more numbers on the state of the world’s children

From UNICEF, the world’s premier children’s organization, part of the United Nations:

* 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
* 1 billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development
* 148 million under 5s in developing regions are underweight for their age
* 101 million children are not attending primary school, with more girls than boys missing out
* 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization
* 8 million children worldwide died before their 5th birthday in 2009
* 4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life
* 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV
* >500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

Source: State of the World’s Children, 2010 PDF formatted document, UNICEF, p.18-19. See also ChildInfo.

Back to top
Why is this tragedy not in the headlines?

UNICEF’s 2000 Progress of Nations report tried to put these numbers into some perspective:

The continuation of this suffering and loss of life contravenes the natural human instinct to help in times of disaster. Imagine the horror of the world if a major earthquake were to occur and people stood by and watched without assisting the survivors! Yet every day, the equivalent of a major earthquake killing over 30,000 young children occurs to a disturbingly muted response. 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.

— A spotty scorecard, UNICEF, Progress of Nations 2000

Unfortunately, it seems that the world still does not notice. It might be reasonable to expect that death and tragedy on this scale should be prime time headlines news. Yet, these issues only surface when there are global meetings or concerts (such as the various G8 summits, the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, etc).

Images © UNICEF

Furthermore, year after year, we witness that when those campaigns end and the meetings conclude, so does the mainstream media coverage.

It feels as though even when there is some media attention, the ones who suffer are not the ones that compel the mainstream to report, but instead it is the movement of the celebrities and leaders of the wealthy countries that makes this issue newsworthy.

Even rarer in the mainstream media is any thought that wealthy countries may be part of the problem too. The effects of international policies, the current form of globalization, and the influence the wealthy countries have on these processes is rarely looked at.

Instead, promises and pledges from the wealthy, powerful countries, and the corruption of the poorer ones—who receive apparently abundant goodwill—make the headlines; the repeated broken promises, the low quality and quantity of aid, and conditions with unfair strings attached do not.

Accountability of the recipient countries is often mentioned when these issues touch the mainstream. Accountability of the roles that international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, and their funders (the wealthy/powerful countries), rarely does. The risk is that citizens of these countries get a false sense of hope creating the misleading impression that appropriate action is taken in their names.

It may be harsh to say the mainstream media is one of the many causes of poverty, as such, but the point here is that their influence is enormous. Silence, as well as noise, can both have an effect.

Back to top
Recent headlines in context

When this page was initially written, the BBC’s top story on prime time television was about a British child kidnapped in Portugal. This is definitely a tragic story that needs reporting, but why, for the BBC and other British media outlets that pride themselves in outstanding international media coverage, is the plight of millions of children not daily headlines?

Another recent tragedy that sustained days of headline and prime time media coverage was the Virginia Tech massacre’s in the US. When media critics at Media Lens asked for the BBC’s rationale for such sustained coverage compared to more people dying each day in Iraq and receiving just a few minutes in comparison, the BBC responded that it happens every day in Iraq. See Putting Virginia Tech in Perspective for the follow up from Media Lens.

Investing in world's poorest children can save millions of lives, UN study finds, UN, September 7, 2010 (video source)

Some people fear there will be fatigue at hearing those depressing stories all the time, or the advertisers will pressure the media companies to put a bit more entertainment or good news on so that buying moods are not affected.

And does it have to be just bad news? Despite the tragedy, there is some measure of progress, which, perhaps with further public attention, could spur on more efforts in these areas and highlight important related issues.

However, news of tragedies in Iraq are also depressing, but nevertheless do received regular headline coverage.

Also there is worry that the lack of sensationalism attached to reporting the same news story each day will result in lower television viewing ratings and this may have various consequences—especially where advertising is concerned.

Finally there is the question of whether people want to hear about such depressing news stories. After all the media feels it is delivering what its viewers would like. However, it is difficult for people to know what they do or do not want to see, if they are never given the options of the alternatives. If the magnitude of this suffering is hardly reported in a sustained manner, how can viewers judge whether they wish to watch it or not?

Back to top
About Child Deaths

Of the 8.1 million child deaths (under-5s) in 2009, the vast majority occurred in just two regions:

Africa and South Asia accounted for 6.6 million child deaths in 2009.

Breaking that down further,

India, Nigeria, DRC, Pakistan, China, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Uganda and Bangladesh accounted for the top 10 countries with the most under 5 child deaths in 2009

Back to top
Why is child mortality important to understand?

UNICEF summarizes the importance of child mortality:

The under-five mortality rate, often known by its acronym U5MR or simply as the child mortality rate … has several advantages as a barometer of child well-being in general and child health in particular.

First, it measures an ‘outcome’ of the development process rather than an ‘input’, such as per capita calorie availability or the number of doctors per 1,000 population—all of which are means to an end.

Second, the U5MR is known to be the result of a wide variety of inputs:

* the nutritional status and the health knowledge of mothers;
* the level of immunization and oral rehydration therapy;
* the availability of maternal and child health services (including prenatal care);
* income and food availability in the family;
* the availability of safe drinking water and basic sanitation; and
* the overall safety of the child’s environment

… among other factors.

Third, the U5MR is less susceptible to the fallacy of the average than, for example, per capita gross national income (GNI per capita). This is because the natural scale does not allow the children of the rich to be 1,000 times as likely to survive, even if the human-made scale does permit them to have 1,000 times as much income. In other words, it is much more difficult for a wealthy minority to affect a nation’s U5MR, and it therefore presents a more accurate, if far from perfect, picture of the health status of the majority of children (and of society as a whole).

— State of the World’s Children, 2008 PDF formatted document, UNICEF, January 2008, p.2 (see also p.149 for more details) [Emphasis and list formatting added]

Back to top
Cautious optimism in reducing child mortality

UNICEF also notes that the global child mortality rate declined by over a third between 1990 and 2009:
World child mortality rate declined from 89/1000 in 1990 to 60/1000 in 2008

Significant declines in under-five mortality rates between 1990 and 2009 in all regions, Child Survival and Health, ChildInfo, UNICEF, September 2010.

Progress has certainly been made as each year the number of children under 5 dying is slowly coming down. However, as UNICEF cautioned in their State of the World’s Children, 2008 PDF formatted document report, “progress has been unevenly distributed” (p.25). For example, good progress was made by a few nations with large populations, but many countries made “no progress or insufficient progress” (p.iii)

Also of concern is that the global financial crisis, largely the making of rich countries, is affecting the poorest. Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, estimates between 200,000 and 400,000 additional children will die because of this global financial crisis.

UNICEF’s State of the World Report 2010 PDF formatted document was compiled in August 2009. They noted at the time, “The risks to child rights from the current economic crisis and other external challenges must not be underestimated.” (p. 60). Furthermore, “The full impact of the crisis on child rights will not be evident for some time, and will only become apparent as new international estimates of global poverty, child development and nutrition emerge.” (p.62)

Back to top
Notes and Sources
Sources for child deaths

These mortality figures are from UNICEF. 88 million covers deaths between 2000 and 2009, the latest figures from UNICEF at time of writing.

The term “Children” in this context means infants under the age of 5. The tragedy is therefore even worse if older children, adults, and the elderly are to be considered.

The approximate number of deaths in those 10 years is calculated by averaging the deaths per year for known figures in that range and multiplying by 10 years, which gives a total of 88.1 million deaths.

Given the population is increasing, the percent of deaths being reduced over those 10 years as just 0.05%.





* This page: http://www.globalissues.org/article/715/today-over-22000-children-died-around-the-world.
* To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
o http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/715

Over 22,000 children die every day around the world.

That is equivalent to:

* 1 child dying every 4 seconds
* 15 children dying every minute
* A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring almost every 10 days
* A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring almost every 10 days
* An Iraq-scale death toll every 18–43 days
* Just under 8.1 million children dying every year
* Some 88 million children dying between 2000 and 2009

The silent killers are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Despite the scale of this daily/ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time, headline coverage.

This web page has the following sub-sections:

1. Some more numbers on the state of the world’s children
2. Why is this tragedy not in the headlines?
3. Recent headlines in context
4. About Child Deaths
5. Why is child mortality important to understand?
6. Cautious optimism in reducing child mortality
7. Notes and Sources
1. Sources for child deaths
2. Sources for Haiti comparison
3. Sources for Asia Tsunami comparison
4. Sources for Iraq comparison
8. Related Information

Some more numbers on the state of the world’s children

From UNICEF, the world’s premier children’s organization, part of the United Nations:

* 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation
* 1 billion children are deprived of one or more services essential to survival and development
* 148 million under 5s in developing regions are underweight for their age
* 101 million children are not attending primary school, with more girls than boys missing out
* 22 million infants are not protected from diseases by routine immunization
* 8 million children worldwide died before their 5th birthday in 2009
* 4 million newborns worldwide are dying in the first month of life
* 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV
* >500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth

Source: State of the World’s Children, 2010 PDF formatted document, UNICEF, p.18-19. See also ChildInfo.

Back to top
Why is this tragedy not in the headlines?

UNICEF’s 2000 Progress of Nations report tried to put these numbers into some perspective:

The continuation of this suffering and loss of life contravenes the natural human instinct to help in times of disaster. Imagine the horror of the world if a major earthquake were to occur and people stood by and watched without assisting the survivors! Yet every day, the equivalent of a major earthquake killing over 30,000 young children occurs to a disturbingly muted response. 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.

— A spotty scorecard, UNICEF, Progress of Nations 2000

Unfortunately, it seems that the world still does not notice. It might be reasonable to expect that death and tragedy on this scale should be prime time headlines news. Yet, these issues only surface when there are global meetings or concerts (such as the various G8 summits, the Make Poverty History campaign in 2005, etc).

Images © UNICEF

Furthermore, year after year, we witness that when those campaigns end and the meetings conclude, so does the mainstream media coverage.

It feels as though even when there is some media attention, the ones who suffer are not the ones that compel the mainstream to report, but instead it is the movement of the celebrities and leaders of the wealthy countries that makes this issue newsworthy.

Even rarer in the mainstream media is any thought that wealthy countries may be part of the problem too. The effects of international policies, the current form of globalization, and the influence the wealthy countries have on these processes is rarely looked at.

Instead, promises and pledges from the wealthy, powerful countries, and the corruption of the poorer ones—who receive apparently abundant goodwill—make the headlines; the repeated broken promises, the low quality and quantity of aid, and conditions with unfair strings attached do not.

Accountability of the recipient countries is often mentioned when these issues touch the mainstream. Accountability of the roles that international institutions such as the World Bank and IMF, and their funders (the wealthy/powerful countries), rarely does. The risk is that citizens of these countries get a false sense of hope creating the misleading impression that appropriate action is taken in their names.

It may be harsh to say the mainstream media is one of the many causes of poverty, as such, but the point here is that their influence is enormous. Silence, as well as noise, can both have an effect.

Back to top
Recent headlines in context

When this page was initially written, the BBC’s top story on prime time television was about a British child kidnapped in Portugal. This is definitely a tragic story that needs reporting, but why, for the BBC and other British media outlets that pride themselves in outstanding international media coverage, is the plight of millions of children not daily headlines?

Another recent tragedy that sustained days of headline and prime time media coverage was the Virginia Tech massacre’s in the US. When media critics at Media Lens asked for the BBC’s rationale for such sustained coverage compared to more people dying each day in Iraq and receiving just a few minutes in comparison, the BBC responded that it happens every day in Iraq. See Putting Virginia Tech in Perspective for the follow up from Media Lens.

Investing in world's poorest children can save millions of lives, UN study finds, UN, September 7, 2010 (video source)

Some people fear there will be fatigue at hearing those depressing stories all the time, or the advertisers will pressure the media companies to put a bit more entertainment or good news on so that buying moods are not affected.

And does it have to be just bad news? Despite the tragedy, there is some measure of progress, which, perhaps with further public attention, could spur on more efforts in these areas and highlight important related issues.

However, news of tragedies in Iraq are also depressing, but nevertheless do received regular headline coverage.

Also there is worry that the lack of sensationalism attached to reporting the same news story each day will result in lower television viewing ratings and this may have various consequences—especially where advertising is concerned.

Finally there is the question of whether people want to hear about such depressing news stories. After all the media feels it is delivering what its viewers would like. However, it is difficult for people to know what they do or do not want to see, if they are never given the options of the alternatives. If the magnitude of this suffering is hardly reported in a sustained manner, how can viewers judge whether they wish to watch it or not?

Back to top
About Child Deaths

Of the 8.1 million child deaths (under-5s) in 2009, the vast majority occurred in just two regions:

Africa and South Asia accounted for 6.6 million child deaths in 2009.

Breaking that down further,

India, Nigeria, DRC, Pakistan, China, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Tanzania, Uganda and Bangladesh accounted for the top 10 countries with the most under 5 child deaths in 2009

Back to top
Why is child mortality important to understand?

UNICEF summarizes the importance of child mortality:

The under-five mortality rate, often known by its acronym U5MR or simply as the child mortality rate … has several advantages as a barometer of child well-being in general and child health in particular.

First, it measures an ‘outcome’ of the development process rather than an ‘input’, such as per capita calorie availability or the number of doctors per 1,000 population—all of which are means to an end.

Second, the U5MR is known to be the result of a wide variety of inputs:

* the nutritional status and the health knowledge of mothers;
* the level of immunization and oral rehydration therapy;
* the availability of maternal and child health services (including prenatal care);
* income and food availability in the family;
* the availability of safe drinking water and basic sanitation; and
* the overall safety of the child’s environment

… among other factors.

Third, the U5MR is less susceptible to the fallacy of the average than, for example, per capita gross national income (GNI per capita). This is because the natural scale does not allow the children of the rich to be 1,000 times as likely to survive, even if the human-made scale does permit them to have 1,000 times as much income. In other words, it is much more difficult for a wealthy minority to affect a nation’s U5MR, and it therefore presents a more accurate, if far from perfect, picture of the health status of the majority of children (and of society as a whole).

— State of the World’s Children, 2008 PDF formatted document, UNICEF, January 2008, p.2 (see also p.149 for more details) [Emphasis and list formatting added]

Back to top
Cautious optimism in reducing child mortality

UNICEF also notes that the global child mortality rate declined by over a third between 1990 and 2009:
World child mortality rate declined from 89/1000 in 1990 to 60/1000 in 2008

Significant declines in under-five mortality rates between 1990 and 2009 in all regions, Child Survival and Health, ChildInfo, UNICEF, September 2010.

Progress has certainly been made as each year the number of children under 5 dying is slowly coming down. However, as UNICEF cautioned in their State of the World’s Children, 2008 PDF formatted document report, “progress has been unevenly distributed” (p.25). For example, good progress was made by a few nations with large populations, but many countries made “no progress or insufficient progress” (p.iii)

Also of concern is that the global financial crisis, largely the making of rich countries, is affecting the poorest. Margaret Chan, director-general of the WHO, estimates between 200,000 and 400,000 additional children will die because of this global financial crisis.

UNICEF’s State of the World Report 2010 PDF formatted document was compiled in August 2009. They noted at the time, “The risks to child rights from the current economic crisis and other external challenges must not be underestimated.” (p. 60). Furthermore, “The full impact of the crisis on child rights will not be evident for some time, and will only become apparent as new international estimates of global poverty, child development and nutrition emerge.” (p.62)

Back to top
Notes and Sources
Sources for child deaths

These mortality figures are from UNICEF. 88 million covers deaths between 2000 and 2009, the latest figures from UNICEF at time of writing.

The term “Children” in this context means infants under the age of 5. The tragedy is therefore even worse if older children, adults, and the elderly are to be considered.

The approximate number of deaths in those 10 years is calculated by averaging the deaths per year for known figures in that range and multiplying by 10 years, which gives a total of 88.1 million deaths.

Given the population is increasing, the percent of deaths being reduced over those 10 years as just 0.05%.

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