A Gigantic Failure

More than one billion children around the world face a brutal existence because of poverty, war and AIDs, the UN children's agency reports. UNICEF estimates that nearly half of the 3.6 million people killed in wars since 1990 have been children. Millions more were displaced by conflict, or even forced to take part as child soldiers.

There is much more in the Report on the State of Children 2005.

Here are the seven "deprivations"

640 million children do not have adequate shelter
500 million children have no access to sanitation
400 million children do not have access to safe water
300 million children lack access to information
270 million children have no access to health care services
140 million children have never been to school
90 million children are severely food-deprived

These, dear reader, in case you didn't notice, are numbers in the MILLIONS! There are less than 300 million people in the United States,adults and children. This is a gigantic failure.

And, 1,800,000 children killed in wars?

I realize that we are in a theocracy, (especially after reading Alex Ray in this morning's paper), and I realize that Christ said something to the effect of "suffer the children."

But really, is this what we are heading for? Maybe Bellamy, the director of UNICEF, can put in in perspective:

"The quality of a child's life depends on decisions made every day in households, communities and in the halls of government. We must make those choices wisely, and with children's best interests in mind. If we fail to secure childhood, we will fail to reach our larger, global goals for human rights and economic development. As children go, so go nations. It's that simple."