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Hunger Free World: Facts About Hunger

1. Hunger is the world’s number 1 health risk; it kills more individuals every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. (World Food Program) 2. A number of 925 million individuals are malnourished in the world today. (World Food Program) 3. 1 in 7 individuals in the world will go to bed hungry tonight. (World Food Program) 4. Children whose development is stunted by hunger and malnutrition lose 5-10 percent in lifetime earnings. (World Food Program) 5. If we spent U.S. $11.8 billion a year, we could reach 90 percent of stunted children in the 36 highest-burden countries. This would cost less than the $13.6 billion U.S. consumers spend per year on potato and tortilla chips. (World Vision Child Health Now report) 6. Worldwide, 115 million children under the age of 5 are underweight. (World Health Organization) 7. Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world's population -- and nearly two-thirds of the world’s hungry individuals. (Food and Agriculture Organization) 8. Supplementation with vitamins can reduce risk of child mortality from all causes by 23 percent. (2009 UNICEF report: Tracking Progress on Child and Maternal Nutrition) 9. Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion individuals. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent. (World Health Organization) 10. Some 1 million babies' lives could be saved if all mothers were encouraged and supported to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life. (World Vision Child Health Now report)

We at SoulKonnect Foundation strongly believe in Hunger Free World dream. Let us come join hands to fight this social evil together!

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Towards Hunger Free World

Being able to access adequate food in order to sustain a healthy body and mind is the most fundamental human right. Regardless of where we are born or live, each one of us belongs to a world where hunger is a problem which must be addressed. More than 80% of the food that’s consumed is produced by smallholder farmers. They form the backbone of the agriculture system in poor nations. Unfortunately, many of these smallholder farmers lack the legal safeguards and market access required to move from subsistence farming to larger-scale commercial production. When a drought destroys a family’s crops, funding from various donors or government programs can provide immediate emergency food assistance and help them recover. 

The death poll of farmers has increased since past few years. The need to be given proper sale for their crops so that they can sell more and grow more. Helping them can play a great role towards hunger free world. Persistent gender inequality means women and girls are often the first victims of hunger. Pregnant women and nursing mothers need to be given proper food to ensure their children get proper healthy diet. There is a possibility of the children to suffer malnutrition and other such diseases if they don’t get healthy food during their growth.

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SOCIAL ISSUES FACED BY CHILDREN

Poverty

The majority of poverty-stricken children are born to poor parents. Therefore, the causes such as adult poverty, government policies, lack of education,unemployment, social services, disabilities and discrimination significantly affect the presence of child poverty. Lack of parental economic resources such as disposable income restricts children’s opportunities. Economic and demographic factors and migration of middle-class residents from inner cities, constrain economic opportunities and choices across generation, isolating inner city poor children.

Life as Refugees

Of the 50 million refugees and displaced people in the world, approximately half are children. War is the primary factor in the creation of child refugees. It is also a principle cause of child death, injury, and loss of parents. In the last decade, war has killed more than 2 million children, wounded another 6 million, and orphaned about 1 million. Each year 40 million children are not registered at birth, depriving them of nationality and a legal name.

Lack of Access to Education

More than 100 million children do not have access to school. Of the children who enroll in primary school, over 150 million drop out, while user fees, including levies, are still charged for access to education in 92 countries and that such charges have impact on excluding girls. 77 million children worldwide are not able to go to school due to lack of funds.

Child Neglect

Neglect is an act of omission, or the absence of action. While the consequences of child neglect can be devastating, it leaves no visible marks. Moreover, it usually involves infants and very young children who cannot speak for themselves.

Child Labor

An estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world, according to the International Labor Organization. Of these, 120 million children are working full time to help support their impoverished families.

Child Prostitution

NGOs have estimated that up to a third of prostitutes are children under 18. A study by the International Labor Organization on child prostitution in Vietnam reported that incidence of children in prostitution is steadily increasing and children under 18 make up between 5 percent and 20 percent of prostitution depending on the geographical area.

Internet Child Pornography

We discovered that the Internet is driving both child pornography production and consumption, and that neither the producers nor the consumers adhere to typical stereotypes.

Trafficking and Slavery

Human trafficking involves men, women and children being brought into a situation of exploitation through the use of violence, deception or coercion and forced to work against their will. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved: simply bringing them into exploitative conditions constitutes trafficking.Children can be trafficked for many different forms of exploitation such as forced prostitution, forced labour, forced begging, forced criminality, domestic servitude, forced marriage, forced organ removal.

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Female Foeticide: The Social Evil

Female foeticide is both a national problem and a social evil. Females not only face inequality in this culture, they are even denied the right to be born. Female foeticide is driven by many factors, but primarily by the prospect of having to pay a dowry to the future bridegroom of a daughter. While sons offer security to their families in old age and can perform the rites for the souls of deceased parents and ancestors, daughters are perceived as a social and economic burden.

Who is responsible?

This ethical problem goes along with economic growth in many cases. It is the wealthy families that can afford ultrasounds and abortions. Prenatal sex detection technologies have been misused, allowing the selective abortions of female offspring to proliferate. Legally, however, female foeticide is a penal offence.

Global Effect:

All countries where female foeticide is practiced are at risk for being trapped in a vicious circle. Female foeticide leads to low female-to-male ratios, which in turn propagates low status of women. On the other hand, low status of women leads to more female foeticide. If an increase in ratio of women to men brings higher status to women, a decrease in this ratio risks the reverse effect. Thus, the decrease in the boy-to-girl birth ratio, itself the result of the low status of women in the society, risks a sharp further decrease in the status of women from bad to worse. The danger is a cruel circle bringing continually greater female foeticide and lowering of the status of women in the society.

All countries where female foeticide is practiced are at risk for falling into this vicious circle.

Response:

There are a numerous possible responses to the worldwide problem of female foeticide. The most fundamental response is to criticize the practice of abortion and the circumstances that lead women to resort to it as their best option. The hypocrisy of abortion rights advocates is revealed by their disapproving of the female foeticide. It is as if a woman's "rights" to an abortion depend on her motives. If she chooses an abortion for financial, social, or personal reasons, she is supported. However, if her choice is gender-based, it is condemned. The very naming of gender-based abortion as female foeticide reveals a double standard.

What separates female foeticide from the problem of abortion in general is a lack of due respect, status, and freedom to women in society. Therefore, the response to female foeticide must involve changing the way society envisions the relationship of women and men in the home and in society. As women's status increases, female foeticide will decrease, and increasing the status of women will similarly decrease the practice of female foeticide.

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Old Age Homes

An old age home is generally the most commonly referred to option when it comes to considering housing options for senior citizens. Senior citizens experience a sense of security and friendship when they share their joys and sorrows with each other. A high level of nursing care is available along with an organized, routine of social events and group activities as well as the delivery of meals.Old age homes supply a number of needs. First among these is security, both financially, physically and medically, though not necessarily in that order. For older people who have nowhere to go and no one to support them, old age homes provide a safe haven. These homes also create a family like atmosphere among the residents. There are more than a thousand old age homes in India. Most of them offer free accommodation. Some homes work on a payment basis depending on the type and quality of services offered. Apart from food, shelter and medical amenities, old age homes also provide yoga classes to senior citizens. Old age homes also provide access to telephones and other forms of communication so that residents may keep in touch with their loved ones. Some old age homes have day care centres. These centres only take care of senior citizens during the day. Alarmingly, the trend in our ‘supposedly modernistic’ society is to abandon the elderly to themselves. Soulkonnect Foundation is one of such organisation, which provides shelter to the abandoned elderly. With increasing longevity, and the fact that most elderly do not have a government-provided social security blanket, Soulkonnect Foundation, contribute in their humble & small way, by providing shelter to the abandoned elderly.

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Why Women Empowerment?

Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is important to build stronger economies, accomplish internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. The private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women.

Why Women Empowerment?

1. Under-employed and unemployed:

Women population constitutes around 50% of the world population. A large number of women around the world are unemployed. The world economy suffers a lot because of the unequal opportunity for women at workplaces.

2. Equally competent and intelligent:

Women are equally competent. Nowadays, women are even ahead of men in many socio-economic activities.

3. Overall development of society:

The main advantage of Women Empowerment is that there will be an overall development of the society. The money that women earn does not only help them and or their family, but it also help develop the society.

4. Economic Benefits:

Women Empowerment also leads to more economic benefits not to the individuals but to the society as well. Unlike earlier days when they stayed at home only and do only kitchen stuffs, nowadays, they roam outside and also earns money like the male members of the society. Women empowerment helps women to stand on their own legs, become independent and also to earn for their family which grows country’s economy.

5. Reduction in domestic violence:

Women Empowerment leads to decrease in domestic violence. Education plays an important role here since uneducated women are at higher risk for domestic violence than an educated women.

6. National Development:

Women are increasingly participating in the national development process. They are making the nation proud by their outstanding performances almost every spheres including medical science, social service, engineering, etc.