Striking Statistics

Sometimes, statistics numbers shock me so utterly that I ask myself how they can even be possible. These ones I collected from the book An Introduction to Sustainable Development (Peter P. Rogers, Kazi F. Jalal and John A. Boyd) are – perhaps – the most scaring ones I have ever read in my entire life. When I take into consideration that those data are from 2006 and that the current reality could be much worse, I could not help but feeling profound dismay.

When I've read it for the first time, I realized that fixing the world extreme poverty problems – although complex – is a feasible task if important actors such as Governments, Private Companies, NGOs, International Organizations and Civil Societies channeled efforts as well as funds towards basic human needs.

            Here the numbers are and they go without further comments, because they clearly speak for themselves. I would just recommend you post them on an easy access wall so you can check them out every chance you have (preferably everyday).

I quote "Facts about poverty and global priorities spending*:

·      Today across the world 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar/day; 3 billion (half the world population) live on less than two dollars/day; 1.3 billion people have no access to clean water; 2 billion have no access to electricity; and 3 billion have no access to sanitation.

·      Also today consider the following as global priorities in spending:

Items of Expenditure	Annual Spending US$ billion
Cosmetics in the US	8
Perfumes in Europe and the US	12
Ice cream in Europe	12
Pet foods in Europe and the US	17
Business entertainment in Japan	35
Cigarettes in Europe	50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe	105
Narcotic drugs in the world	400
Military spending, global	780

·      And yet some of the basic needs of poor humanity, the cost of which are as follows:

	Annual Estimate Cost in US$ billion
Basic education for all	6
Water and sanitation for all	9
Basic health and nutrition for everyone	13
Reproductive health for all women in the world	12

Sources: Anup Shah (2006)"

* From the book An Introduction to Sustainable Development. Authors: Peter P Rogers, Kazi F Jalal & John A Boyd, 2008.

Best

Gildete Lima