Children and Poverty

Childhood should be a happy time spent playing with friends, enjoying a favorite toy — even planning for the first day of school. But children in the developing world spend most of their childhood struggling to survive, without much hope for a secure, productive life.

And they face incredible odds. Of the 57 million people worldwide who died last year, 10.5 million of them were children less than five years old. The majority of these children — some 98 percent — were in developing nations.

Treatable illnesses, such as pneumonia, malaria, diarrhea and malnutrition, become life-threatening when combined with poverty, war, poor sanitation, inadequate health care and insufficient preventive measures.

For those who survive childhood, the path to a secure and happy future is still filled with obstacles. Children in developing nations have limited access to education, which limits opportunity and reduces potential.

Economic, social and cultural factors keep some 121 million children, especially girls, from attending school. Faced with difficult choices, parents often take girls out of school to care for younger siblings, help with household chores or work outside the home to contribute to family income. In the world’s least developed countries, only 14 percent of secondary school enrollment is female.

A well rounded approach that can be taken can be taken to improve children’s health are

Water, sanitation and hygiene education projects that enable healthier households.

Farming innovations that result in better nutrition

Family planning projects that promote healthier mothers and infants.

Emergency response programs that meet basic needs for food and health.