Almost one billion people, more than one seventh of the world, suffer from chronic hunger, while more than 3.5 million children die each year from under nutrition. Hunger robs the poor children of their healthy and productive lives and stunts the mental and physical development of the next generation.

Consider these facts:

• 43% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have safe, accessible drinking water. (source: UNICEF)
• Between 12 and 14 million African children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. (source: World Bank/UNICEF)
• Nearly 2 million children under 14 years old are HIV positive. (source: UNICEF)
• 64% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have adequate sanitation. (source: UNICEF)
• 200,000 child slaves are sold every year in Africa. There are an estimated 8,000 girl-slaves in West Africa alone. (sources: BBC 5 October, 2001 & Anti-Slavery Society)
• About 120,000 African children are participating in armed conflicts. Some are as young as 7 years old. (source: Africa Children’s Charter)
• Children account for half of all civilian casualties in wars in Africa. (source: Africa 2015)
• One in six African children dies before the age of five. Most of these deaths could be prevented. (source: Africa 2015)
• Nearly one third of children in Sub-Saharan Africa are underweight. (source: UNICEF)
• In sub-Saharan Africa, measles takes the life of a child nearly every minute of every day. An effective measles vaccine costs as little as $1 per child. (source: UNICEF)
• Only 57% of African children are enrolled in primary education, and one in three of those do not complete school. (source: Africa 2015)
• For every 100 boys there are only 83 girls enrolled at primary school. (source: World Bank/UNICEF)

More Facts

World Population

• 6.8 billion

World Hunger

• 925 million people do not have enough to eat — more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union combined.
• 98% of the world’s undernourished people live in developing countries.
• Two-thirds of the world’s hungry live in just 7 countries: Bangladesh,
• China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Pakistan.

Where is hunger the worst?

• Asia and the Pacific: 578 million
• Sub-Saharan Africa: 239 million
• Latin America and the Caribbean: 53 million
• Near East and North Africa: 37 million
• Developed countries: 19 million

Women and Children

• 60 percent of the world’s hungry are women.
• 50 percent of pregnant women in developing countries lack proper maternal Care, resulting in over 300,000 maternal deaths annually from childbirth.
• 1 out of 6 infants are born with a low birth weight in developing countries.
• A third of all childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by hunger.
• Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.
• JNN Foundation firmly believes that empowering women to be key change agents is an essential element to achieving the end of hunger and poverty.

HIV/AIDS and Other Disease

• 35 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.
• 65 percent of young people living with HIV/AIDS are women.
• 90 percent of all children and 60 percent of all women living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa.
• More than 11 million children die each year from preventable health issues, such as malaria, diarrhea and pneumonia.

Poverty

• 22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty.
• 1.4 billion people in developing countries live on $1.25 a day or less.
• Rural areas account for three out of every four people living on less than $1.25 a day.
• Rural Hunger Project partners have access to income-generating workshops, empowering their self-reliance.
• Our Microfinance Program in Africa hopes to provide access to credit, adequate training and instilling in our partners the importance of saving.

Agriculture

• 75 percent of the world’s poorest people, 1.4 billion women, children, and men live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and related activities for their livelihood.
• 50 percent of hungry people are farming families.

Water

• 1.7 billion People lack access to clean water.
• 2.3 billion People suffer from water-borne diseases each year.
• 12 percent of the world’s population uses 85 percent of its water, and none of the 12 percent lives in developing countries.