It's A FACT
Health & Disease Facts . . .
• In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly two million children are living with HIV/AIDS. Over 12 million children were orphaned by the disease in 2003 — two-thirds of them in eastern and southern Africa. (UNICEF)
• AIDS has killed around seven million agricultural workers since 1985 in the 25 worst affected African countries, further reducing food security. (CWS)
• In the world’s least-developed countries, only 35% of women have a skilled person attending the delivery of their babies. (UNICEF)
Poverty and Health Facts . . .
• In the world’s least-developed countries, 41% of people live on less than $1/day (1.2 billion people in developing countries), and the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased over time. (UNICEF)
• In sub-Saharan Africa, 45% of the population lives on less than $1/day. In western and central regions of sub-Saharan Africa, 55% of the people live at this level of extreme poverty. (UNICEF)
• Most people in Vietnam earn only $350 per year, and 39% of rural children under age five are malnourished and underweight — one of the highest rates in the world. (CWS)
• The U.S. spends about $10 billion each year on foreign aid — while Americans spend $33 million on diet and weight-loss products. (CWS)
• In the world’s least-developed countries, life expectancy is just 52 (vs. 79 in industrialized countries and 67 for the world). (UNICEF)
War, Refugees & Safety Facts . . .
• Each week, an estimated 500 people are killed or maimed by landmines. Half of mine victims die within minutes of the blast. (CWS)
• In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the most common landmine victim is a male farmer who has returned since the end of the war to work his land. (CWS)
• Sixty to 70 million landmines litter the land in over 60 countries. While the 340 different types of landmines cost anywhere from $3 to $30, the cost to remove one landmine runs from $300 to $1,000. (CWS)
• Around the world, approximately 12 million people are refugees and over 23 million are displaced within their own countries. (CWS)
• The war in Sudan is the world’s longest running civil war: 35 of the last 46 years, killing more than two million people, with 300 dying each day from war-related causes. Children as young as 10 years old have been forced into the military, and an estimated 80% of the war’s casualties have been women. (CWS)
• In the Middle East, 4.1 million Palestinians live in refugee camps. (CWS)
• Civil conflict and the U.S.-sponsored war on drugs have internally displaced 2.45 million Colombians. (CWS)
Education Facts . . .
• While the governments of many developing countries spend a higher percentage of their resources on education than the world average, one-third of children who enter school in the least developed countries will not reach the fifth grade due to family economic pressures, illness and death. (UNICEF)
• In the world’s least-developed countries, nearly half the adult population is illiterate. (UNICEF)
Hunger Facts . . .
• 850 million people are undernourished, nearly three-quarters of them living in rural farming communities — and most suffer from chronic hunger and
malnutrition rather than famine. (CWS)
• Six million children under age five die each year as a result of hunger. (CWS)
• In rural Vietnam, 39% of children under age five are malnourished and underweight — one of the highest rates in the world. (CWS)
• 70% of those who suffer from hunger worldwide are women and girls — though 60-80% of farmers in the developing world are women. (CWS)
Water & Sanitation Facts . . .
• More than 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and more than 2 billion lack adequate sanitation facilities. (CWS)
• In the world’s least-developed countries, 50% of the rural population does not have access to improved drinking water sources. (UNICEF)
• In the world’s least-developed countries, only 35% of the population uses adequate sanitation facilities. (UNICEF)
