Children

Compare the infant mortality rate in some countries we serve with the rate in the U.S.:

(deaths/1,000 live births)

• Somalia: 110.97
• Chad: 100.36
• Sudan: 86.98
• Burkina Faso: 86.02
• Laos: 79.61
• United States: 6.30
  • (source: CIA - The World Factbook - 200

Education

• Literacy rates in some countries where we work are as low as 25%
• Only 40% of men and 28% of women ages 15-24 in Burkina Faso know how to read or write
• Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 47% of the world's out-of-school children; 54% are girls
• There are an estimated 500,000 hearing impaired children in Bangladesh, but only 36 schools with a capacity for 1,750 students
• Fewer than 50 percent of all Kenyan children attend school
• Many families cannot afford mandatory school uniforms for their children without World Concern's help
  • sources: CIA, UNESCO and World Concern

Hunger

• More than one third of child deaths worldwide are attributed to undernutrition
• Chronic malnutrition has stunted the growth of out 178 million children worldwide, with the highest rates in Africa and Asia
• Stunted growth causes brain development to lag
• About 20% of deaths of children under-five could be avoided with proper nutrition
• Proper nutrition may help delay the progression of HIV/AIDS
• Close to half of Haiti's population is affected by food insecurity
• Sources: World Health Organization, World Concern

Income

• Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.25 per day
• 1.4 billion people (one in four) live in extreme poverty
• Extreme poverty is most common in Sub-Saharan Africa, SE Asia and Central America, areas where we work
• More than 5 million people live in Bangladeshi slums
• 45% of people in Bangladesh live in poverty
• 60% of people in Bolivia live in poverty
• Money lenders on the streets of Bangladesh may charge 50% to 100% interest annually on microloans
• World Concern's average annual interest rates of approximately 24% cover administrative expenses and facilitate lending to others
  • UNICEF, World Concern, CIA "The World Factbook"

The pursuit of good health - a long journey

• AIDS remains the #1 killer in Sub-Saharan Africa
• 33 million people have AIDS worldwide
• 23 million people with AIDS live in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Intestinal parasites infect roughly 40% of the world's children
• Parasites consume essential nutrients and cause anemia, malnutrition, skin disorders and stunted growth
• More than half a million women die every year of complications during pregnancy or childbirth; most of these deaths can be avoided with proper medical care
• Sources: UNAIDS, UNICEF, World Health Organization

Most people cannot get enough water

• Diarrhoeal disease alone is responsible for 1.8 million deaths annually
• In sub-Saharan Africa, 42% of the population lacks improved water
• In 2002, 1.1 billion people lacked access to improved water sources (about one out of six people)
• Of those 1.1 billion people, nearly two thirds live in Asia
• Droughts cause the most ill-health and death because they often trigger and exacerbate malnutrition and famine
• Between 28 and 35 million people in Bangladesh consume drinking-water with elevated levels of arsenic
  • Source: World Health Organization