Consider
the following poverty statistics-
Half the world's
3,000,000,000
people live on less than
$2.00
a day.
-
The GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) of the poorest
48
nations (of the world's
countries) is less than the combined wealth of the world's
3
richest people.
-
Nearly
1,000,000,000
people entered the 21st
century unable to read a book or sign their names.
-
From 1999-2000,
less than
1%
of the world's yearly weapon sales was needed to put every child
into school. It didn't happen.
-
51%
of the world's 100
wealthiest bodies are corporations.
-
The wealthiest
nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any
industrialized nation.
-
The poorer the
country, the more likely that its debt repayments are being taken
from people who neither contracted the loans nor received any of the
money.
-
20%
of the population in developed nations consume
86%
of the world's goods.
-
The top
20%
of people living in the richest countries enjoy
82%
of export trade and 68%
of foreign direct investment. The bottom
20%
of people barely receive more than
1%.
- In
1960, the
20%
of people in the richest countries had
30 times the
income of the poorest
20%.
In 1997, that ratio
increased to
74 times as much.
-
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 1992
- 1,700,000
children will die
needlessly each year because world governments fail to reduce
poverty levels.
-
The developing world now
spends $13.00
on debt repayment for every $1.00
it receives in grants.
-
A
few hundred
millionaires now own as
much wealth as the world's poorest
2,500,000,000
people.
-
The
48 poorest
countries account for less than
0.4% of
global exports.
-
The combined wealth of
the world's
200
richest people hit
$1,000,000,000,000
in 1999; the combined incomes of the
582,000,000
people living in
the
43
least developed countries is
$146,000,000,000.
-
Of all human rights
failures today, those in economic and social areas affect by far the
larger number and are the
most widespread across
the world's nations and large numbers of people.
-
Approximately
790,000,000
people in the developing world are still chronically
undernourished, almost
66% of
whom reside in Asia
and the Pacific.
-
According to UNICEF,
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. That is about
210,000 children
each week, or almost 11,000,000
children under age
5, each year.
-
Globalization from 1980
- 2000 shows a very clear decline in economic progress as compared
with the previous two decades [1960 - 1980]. Among the
findings:
- The
fall in economic growth rates fell for most countries.
-
Progress in
life expectancy also fell.
-
Progress in
reducing infant mortality was also considerably slower
than over the previous two decades.
-
Progress in
education also slowed during the period of
globalization.
-
Today, across the world,
130,000,000,000
people live on less than $1.00
a day; 3,000,000,000
live on under $2.00
a day;
1,300,000,000
have no access to clean water;
3,000,000,000
have no access to sanitation;
2,000,000,000
have no access to electricity.
-
The richest
50,000,000
people in Europe and North America have the same income as
2,700,000,000
poor people. The slice of the cake taken by
1%
is the same size as that
handed to the poorest 57%.
-
The world's
497 billionaires
have a combined wealth of
$154,000,000,000,000.
This is well over the combined gross national products of all
sub-Saharan Africa nations ($929,300,000,000)
or the oil-rich regions of the Middle East and North Africa ($134,000,000,000,000).
It is also greater than the combined incomes of the poorest
50% of humanity.
-
A mere
12%
of the world's population uses
85%
of its water. These 12%
do not live in the Third World.
-
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 |
-
Number of children in
the world: 2,200,000,000
- Number in
poverty: 1,000,000,000
(every second child)
-
For the
1,900,000,000
children from the developing world, there are:
-
640,000,000
without adequate shelter (1
in 3)
-
400,000,000
with no access to safe water
(1
in
5)
-
270,000,000
with no access to health
services (1
in 7)
-
Children out of education worldwide
- 121,000,000
- Survival for
children
- Worldwide
- 10,600,000
died in 2003 before they reached the age of
5 (same
as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
- 1,400,000
die each
year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate
sanitation
- Health of
children
- Worldwide,
- 2,200,000
children die each year because they are not immunized
- 15,000,000
children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total
children population in Germany or United Kingdom)
-
The total wealth of the
top 8,300,000
people around the world rose 8.2%
to $30,800,000,000,000
in 2004, giving them control of nearly a
25%
of the world's financial
assets. In other words, about
0.13% of the
world's population controlled 25%
of the world's assets in 2004.
|
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