Statistics

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9

Almost half the world live on less than $2.50 a day. One billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services.

According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth.

Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.Source 9

Water problems affect half of humanity:

* Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
* Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
* The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
* Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
* Millions of women spending several hours a day collecting water.
* 1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation
* 2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
* 15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)
You can read these statistics and others at Global Issues

We are more blessed than we sometimes realize. We have so much more. What does God want each of us to do with what He has given to us?