* almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day
* according to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty
* nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names
* less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen
* some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
* number of children in the world: 2.2 billion --- number in poverty: 1 billion
* 15 million children are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS worldwide
* 1.6 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live without electricity
* approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished
* 10.6 million children died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5
* 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
* the poorest 40 percent of the world’s population accounts for 5 percent of global income, while the richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income
just thought i'd throw that out there. definitely something to think about.