State of the World's Children

12/23/2004

State of the World's Children

"If you live in my heart, you live rent-free." - Irish Proverb

State of the World's Children

UNICEF has released The State of the World's Children 2005. Some key findings:

* Poverty, war and AIDS are making childhood a misery for more than 1 billion children.

* 15 million children are orphans because of AIDS.

* Nearly half of the 3.6 million people killed in conflicts since 1990 are children.

* Extreme poverty means that 640 million children lack adequate shelter and 270 million have no access to health care.

* In 2003, 10.5 million children died before they were five -- most of these deaths were preventable.

* More than 121 million primary, school-age children are out of school -- the majority of them are girls.

Issues such as the impact of violence and AIDS on children, needs of orphans, access to health care, and education of girls will be addressed at the next World Forum on Early Care and Education in Montreal on May 17 - 20, 2005. To learn more about the 2005 World Forum, go to www.worldforum2005.com.

To read and/or download The State of the World's Children 2005, go to http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/index.html

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