The School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSNDs) of Baltimore were circulating this via email. They got the list from Catholic Relief Services. CRS “acted as a composer of Bread For The World Institute’s 1998 Report: Hunger in a Global Economy.”

Nearly a quarter of humanity – 1.3 billion people – live in absolute poverty with incomes of less than a dollar a day.

One in every five people in developing companies remains undernourished.

Michael Jordan receives more for his endorsement of NIKE shoes than the 22,000 women in Indonesia who assemble them.

200 corporations account for 29% of the world’s economic activity.

The United States sspent nearly $37 billion – half its government sponsored research budget – on weapons development.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated in 1996 that at least 120 million children between ages 5 to 14 were “Fully at Work.”

29% of U.S. children under the age of 12 (nearly 14 million children) are hungry or at risk of hunger.

BUT! BUT! BUT! (HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS!)

Between 1960 and 1991: 1) The proportion of hungry people in developing countries dropped by nearly half. 2) Enrollment in primary schools rose to 77% of eligible students. 3) Average life expectancy increased by more than a third.

Global military spending in 1994 continued a downward trend as a proportion of the world gross national product.

Total military spending fell below 3 percent for the first time since 1960

Microcredit has allowed 8 million people – mostly women – to be come entrepreneurs.

Frank Brennan SJ at Uniya / Social Justice Centre, Sydney

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