The Hard Facts

...on hunger, water, education, children affected by conflict and HIV and AIDS

World Vision raises funds for programs that tackle hunger and other critical problems linked directly to poverty, including water shortages, children affected by conflict, and by HIV and AIDS. Here are some key statistics about these issues that contribute to the cycle of poverty experienced by developing countries.

Hunger and Malnutrition

Prior to the onset of the global food crisis in 2008 less than 850 million people suffered from chronic malnutrition. By October of 2008 this figure had risen to 923 million; by December the total was 963 million. Now, in 2009, the global economic crisis has contributed to pushing the number of hungry people in the world above 1 billion for the first time.
SOURCE: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2008; FAO, 2009
Percentage of underweight children under the age of five worldwide: 25%
SOURCE: United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The State of the World’s Children 2008.
Percentage of overweight children in Canada: 26%
SOURCE: Statistics Canada. Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition (CCHS) 2004.
As of 2008, the number of children who die each day from largely preventable causes: more than 24,000 (8.8 million children per year).
SOURCE: UNICEF Press release, Global child mortality continues to drop. September 10, 2009.
Canada’s official overseas development assistance in 2008, in terms of percentage of gross national income (GNI): 0.32%
Note: The goal is for every rich country to give 0.7%
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 30 March 2009.

Water

Number of people worldwide who do not have access to safe water: 1.1 billion
SOURCE: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report (HDR) 2006.
Number of people who die each year of water-related diseases: 5 million (About 1.8 million are children)
SOURCES: Pacific Institute 2002. Dirty Water: Estimated Deaths from Water-Related Diseases 2000-2020; UNDP HDR 2006.
Average daily quantity of water used by a person living in a developing country: 10 litres
SOURCE: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 2003. World Environment Day website.
Amount of water used by someone living in Canada during a five-minute shower: 100 litres
SOURCE: Environment Canada 2007. Freshwater website: Quickfacts.
Average daily quantity of water used by someone living in Canada: 335 litres
SOURCE: Environment Canada 2007. Freshwater website: Water: No Time to Waste.
Funding required to reach the goal of providing clean drinking water for everyone in the world: US$12 to $35 billion additional funding annually
SOURCE: United Nations Education and Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) 2007. The Millennium Development Goals and Water.

Education

Number of children worldwide who are not in school: 90 million
SOURCE: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) 2007. Education For All Global Monitoring Report.
Average number of years of formal education for a child in Mozambique: 3 years (In Canada, the average is 13 to 16 years.)
SOURCE: Global Campaign for Education 2006
Percentage of disabled children in developing countries who receive an education: 2%
SOURCE: Child Rights Information Network 2007
Number of cases of HIV and AIDS that could be prevented in the next decade if every child received a primary education: 7 million
SOURCE: ActionAid 2006
Amount of additional aid money estimated to be required annually to reach the goal of universal primary education: US$10 billion
Source: ActionAid 2006
Amount of money Americans spend on ice cream each year: US$20 billion
SOURCE: ActionAid 2006
Percentage of yearly spending on weapons that would be needed to put every child into school (as of 2000): 1%
SOURCE: UNICEF 2005

HIV and AIDS

Number of people living with HIV in the world today: 33 million
SOURCE: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 2008. Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2008.
Number of people under age 25 who become HIV-positive every minute: 4 (1,150 children are newly infected each day.)
SOURCE: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 2007. AIDS Epidemic Update: Introduction.
Number of people infected with HIV in Canada: 58,000 (An estimated 27% of these people are unaware that they are infected.)
SOURCES: Health Canada 2006. The State of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Canada; AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT).
Number of people who die each day of AIDS: 5,479
SOURCE: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 2008. Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2008.
Percentage of HIV-positive children (in 2007) who have access to the anti-retroviral drugs they need: 10% (without treatment almost 50% of children living with HIV will die by the second year of life).
SOURCE: UNAIDS, WHO, UNICEF 2008. Towards Universal Access: Report, 2008.
The means by which 90% of all HIV-positive children are infected: transmission of HIV from mother to child (in 2008, only 34% of pregnant women living with HIV in low- and middle-income countries in need of anti-retroviral treatment received it).
SOURCE: Putting Children at the Center of Health Care. World Vision International Briefing Paper no.2, 2009.
Number of children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS: nearly 12 million. (This number is projected to reach 14 million by 2015.)
SOURCE: Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). 2008. Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2008.
Amount pledged by Canada to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 2008–2010: $450 million
SOURCE: Government of Canada, Ministry of Finance Budget 2008.

Children Affected by Conflict

Number of children, under 18, currently serving in government forces or armed rebel groups: 300,000 (There are 300,000 child soldiers worldwide.)
SOURCE: Human Rights Watch 2006. Facts About Child Soldiers.
Number of countries where children are currently serving in armed forces: 36
SOURCE: Human Rights Watch, 2006. Facts About Child Soldiers.
Number of children who have been forced to flee their homes and live as refugees:
9 million
SOURCE: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2007.
Annual worldwide military spending: US$1.3 trillion
SOURCE: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. SIPRI Yearbook 200. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security.