Photo credit: Armani Pashtun, Afghanistan
Why Give Internationally
Nearly half of humanity struggles to live on less than $2 a day.
While economic globalization has brought great prosperity to some, it has stripped many local economies and driven millions more deeply into poverty and dependence. The poor lack access to the basic resources and fair trading relationships needed to compete in the world marketplace. Most importantly, the poor lack a voice in decisions made in their own countries and on the global stage - decisions that curtail their chances of creating healthy, productive lives for themselves and their children.
Photo credit: Project Healthy Children, Nepal
Close to ten million children will die this year due to poverty.
Peter Singer has said that we are living in the midst of an emergency in which 27,000 children die from avoidable causes every day. The good news is that according to UNICEF this number is now at 24,000 and continuing to decrease.
Photo credit: The dZi Foundation, Nepal
Only 6 cents of each $100 of the U.S. federal budget was allocated to address global poverty in 2009.
Though still the world's leading economy, with a Gross Domestic Product of over $14.4 trillion, the U.S. ranks below 20 other nations in the proportion of its Gross National Income devoted to foreign aid.
Photo credit: Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Guerra, El Porvenir, Nicaragua
Of all private donations from the U.S., only 4% went to International Affairs in 2008.
Global giving from Americans is equivalent to less than .09 of 1% of our Gross Domestic Product. Private donations totaled $307.7 billion in 2008, yet only $13.3 billion (4%) went to organizations working on international relief, direct aid, exchange, and other issues.
Photo credit: Freedom from Hunger, Peru
