Youth for Change

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Facing the Facts

Welcome to the newly-designed

→ YFCI Center of Facts 

Where you find out about the world's facts and figures

 

UN Millenium Developement Goals

WATCH THIS VIDEO FOR A BRIEF DESCRIPTION!

Video courtesy of Good Magazine.

 

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

• 1.2 billion people live on less than $1 a day
• Every day, 800 million people go to bed hungry
• Every day, 28,000 children die from poverty-related causes

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education

• 115 million children are not in school—56 percent of them are girls and 94 percent of them live in developing countries
• 133 million young people cannot read or write
• Only 37 of 155 developing countries have achieved universal primary
school completion

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

• Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate people are female
• The employment rate for women is 30% lower than the rate for men
• Women only held 15% of seats in national parliaments in 2003

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality

• 48 countries had mortality rates greater than 1 in 10 childbirths, compared to 1 in 143 in developed countries
• Among the childhood vaccine-preventable diseases, measles is the leading cause of child mortality, with over half a million deaths in 2000
• 70% of deaths before age five are caused by disease, or a combination of disease and malnutrition, that would be preventable in developed countries

MDG 5: Improve maternal health

• More than 500,000 women die from complications of pregnancy and child birth every year
• 99 percent of maternal deaths from childbirth occur in the developing world
• Pregnancy is the leading cause of death for girls ages 15-19 in developing countries

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

• 4.8 million people became newly infected with HIV in 2003; that’s 13,000 a day!
• Malaria causes more than one million deaths each year
• There were two million deaths from tuberculosis in 2002

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

• 2 million children die every year from infections spread by dirty water or the lack of toilets
• 1.2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.4 billion people lack access to proper sanitation facilities
• The collapse of fisheries around the world threatens to increase hunger and poverty among poor coastal communities throughout the developing world

MDG 8: Create a global partnership for development

• Europe’s cows receive $2 a day in subsidies, more than the income of half the world’s population
• Developed countries pledged to give 0.7% of their national income in aid. Only 5 countries are living up to the commitment; the USA is giving less then 0.2%
• It is estimated that were developed countries to break down trade barriers, this could help lift 300 million people out of poverty by 2015

The information in this section comes from the Millennium Campaign’s Youth MDG Campaign Kit. We found this information through the Voices of Youth Millenium Developement Goals Fact Sheet.

The "State of the World"

BASED ON A REPORT BY THE UNITED NATIONS

  •  More than 1 billion children suffer from the lack of proper nutrition, save drinking water, decent sanitation facilities, health-care services, shelter, education and information.
  • Of those orphaned by AIDS, 12.1 million, or more than 80 per cent, are in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Every day, nearly 1,800 children under 15 are infected with HIV. Children under 15 make up 13 per cent of new global HIV infections and 17 per cent of HIV/AIDS deaths every year.
  • About 30 per cent of rural children in developing countries are out of school, compared with 18 per cent of those living in urban areas, and over 80 per cent of all children who are not in primary school live in rural areas.
  • More than 900 million people live in slums; most lack access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, sufficient living space and decent housing.
  • In 2004, an estimated 10.5 million children died before they reached age five, most from preventable diseases. Vaccine-preventable diseases cause more than 2 million deaths every year.
  • There are some 300 million indigenous peoples in more than 70 countries, around half of whom live in Asia. Many of them face extreme exclusion.
  • There are an estimated 150 million children with disabilities in the world, most of whom face discrimination in one form or another.
  • An estimated 48 million children in 2003 – 36 per cent of total births that year – were not formally registered.
  • At the end of 2004, roughly 48 per cent of all refugees worldwide were children. During the same year, roughly 25 million people were displaced within their own countries by conflict or human rights violations.
  • At the end of 2003, there were an estimated 143 million orphans under the age of 18 living in 93 developing countries.
  • The exact number of street children is impossible to count, but estimates are that tens of millions exist across the world.
  • More than 1 million children are living in detention (jail) as a result of being in conflict with the law, according to estimates.
  • UNICEF estimates that in 2005, 48 per cent of South Asian females aged 15 to 24 will marry before age 18.
  • The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 246 million children between 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour. Of these, nearly 70 per cent are working in hazardous conditions – in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery. Some 73 million of them are less than 10 years old.
  • Reliable global statistics are impossible to compile, but it is estimated that trafficking affects about 1.2 million children each year.More than 1 billion children suffer from a lack of proper nutrition, safe drinking water, decent sanitation facilities, health-care services, shelter, education and information.
  • Of those orphaned by AIDS, 12.1 million, or more than 80 per cent, are in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Every day, nearly 1,800 children under 15 are infected with HIV. Children under 15 make up 13 per cent of new global HIV infections and 17 per cent of HIV/AIDS deaths every year.
  • About 30 per cent of rural children in developing countries are out of school, compared with 18 per cent of those living in urban areas, and over 80 per cent of all children who are not in primary school live in rural areas.
  • More than 900 million people live in slums; most lack access to safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, sufficient living space and decent housing.
  • In 2004, an estimated 10.5 million children died before they reached age five, most from preventable diseases. Vaccine-preventable diseases cause more than 2 million deaths every year.
  • There are some 300 million indigenous peoples in more than 70 countries, around half of whom live in Asia. Many of them face extreme exclusion.
  • There are an estimated 150 million children with disabilities in the world, most of whom face discrimination in one form or another.
  • An estimated 48 million children in 2003 – 36 per cent of total births that year – were not formally registered.
  • At the end of 2004, roughly 48 per cent of all refugees worldwide were children. During the same year, roughly 25 million people were displaced within their own countries by conflict or human rights violations.
  • At the end of 2003, there were an estimated 143 million orphans under the age of 18 living in 93 developing countries.
  • The exact number of street children is impossible to count, but estimates are that tens of millions exist across the world.
  • More than 1 million children are living in detention (jail) as a result of being in conflict with the law, according to estimates.
  • UNICEF estimates that in 2005, 48 per cent of South Asian females aged 15 to 24 will marry before age 18.
  • The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 246 million children between 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour. Of these, nearly 70 per cent are working in hazardous conditions – in mines, with chemicals and pesticides in agriculture or with dangerous machinery. Some 73 million of them are less than 10 years old.
  • Reliable global statistics are impossible to compile, but it is estimated that trafficking affects about 1.2 million children each year.

    The information listed above is from the UNICEF Voices of Youth "Explore", 2006 State of the World

    • Issue by Graph

     

     HIV/AIDS

     40.3 million people affected by this disease, including 17.5 million women and 2.3 million children under the age of 15. In 2005 alone, a total of 3.1 million people died of HIV/AIDS-related causes. World-wide, only one in ten persons infected with HIV has been tested and knows his/her HIV status. (Wikipedia) Learn more at our program's website, the One Big Charity Organization.

     Graph Zoom In

     

    Access to School

    93 million children are still denied the right to public education. In some countries and regions the task remains enormous, for example in sub-Saharan Africa, where 41 million primary-school-age children are out of school, and in South Asia, where 32 million remain out of school. (UNICEF) Learn more about it.

     

     Youth Literacy Rate

     Adult Literacy Rate

     Child Deprivation 

    All graphs and figures were taken from the UNFPA's website.

     

     

     

    F i n d    O u t    M o r e 

    Childinfo - Monitoring the Situation of Children and Women

    We also recommend visiting UNICEF's website; childinfo. 

     

    Find even more facts and videos at UYCW's Do Your Part for the World project.

    This complilation is Copyright © Youth for Change International. All Rights Reserved.