I thought I’d share a few important statistics that go with the reports I wrote about last Sunday:  Effective Development:

89%

the share of the world population who now have access to safe drinking water.

3 billion:

the number of people living on less than $2.50 a day!

40 billion:

the number of hours that women and girls in Africa spend fetching water each year.

Myth:

Development assistance is a big part of the U.S. budget and is fueling our record budget deficit.

Reality:

Development assistance is less than 1 percent of the U.S. budget, so cutting it would not help fix the deficit. It does, however, save millions of human lives every year.

Myth:

It’s a waste of time and money to give development assistance, because it never gets to the people who need it.

Reality:

In recent years, there has been much more emphasis on transparency and adherence to strict accounting standards. It has become increasingly difficult for anyone to make aid money “disappear,” lost to corruption.  There are many examples of children, families, and communities who have benefited from development programs. And, of course, there are the longer-term results just mentioned: the rate of global hunger has been cut in half.

Myth:

Not much progress can be made against a problem as big as hunger.

Reality:

In less than two generations, global hunger has been cut in half. Instead of one person out of every three suffering from hunger and malnutrition, it’s now one person out of every six—still far too many, but a big improvement.

Reality:

 The global situation is now one where there’s a heightened sense of momentum, more commitment and leadership, and better knowledge of “what works.” The United States is leading the way with new initiatives such as Feed the Future, which focuses on agriculture and nutrition.

Find out more about  Bread for the World Institute online at http://www.bread.org/institute.

percent:

Related articles

• Over 870 Million People Go Hungry – UN (247wallst.com)
• Rich countries are not keeping their promises on aid: new analysis from ONE | ONE.org (worldhumanrights.wordpress.com)