Global Challenges

11/02/2007

The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive.
Joe Batten

A Newsweek special feature on global giving, "A Shot of Hope," (October 1, 2007; www.newsweek.com) offered these sobering facts...

Malnutrition and Hunger
In 2005, 31% of children in developing countries suffered from stunted growth due to malnutrition, which can cause a host of developmental disabilities. Such malnutrition is severe in South Asia where 45% of children under the age of 5 are underweight.

Infectious Diseases
Some 300 million to 500 million people are infected with malaria annually, and African children under 5 are 75% of those who die. Funding to fight malaria has increased, but as late as 2004, fewer than 5% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa slept under mosquito nets.

Education
Of the world's 78.1 illiterate adults, 64% are women. Their lack of education continually undermines their communities' levels of health care and economic stability. The World Bank reports "educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world."

Reproductive and Child Health
Childbirth is the leading killer of women in the developing world, and the risk of death related to pregnancy and birth in developing countries is 1 in 61; in the developed world it is 1 in 2,800.

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Teaching Strategies Sponsors NAEYC
We're proud to be NAEYC's first year-round Sponsor. One element of our contribution include acting as the official host of Administration Station, the first networking center specifically designed for ECE administrators at the NAEYC Annual Conference in Chicago, November 7-10, 2007. We hope you will join us there.

Learn more about Administration Station!

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.