Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - According to a Report on Millennium Development Goals in Guinea Bissau 124 in every 1000 children die before the age of 1 and 203 before the age of five. Infant mortality affects 822 out of every 100,000 new born babies. Moreover 25% of children under five is underweight, 6,5% is seriously underweight. Life expectancy is 45 years and threatens to fall even lower because of HIV/AIDS, which affects between 8% and 10% of the population.
Five years ago 191 countries members of the United Nations Organisation set goals for world development in the new millennium. The first goal was to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger.
Recently the United Nations World Food Programme WFP thanked the Italian government for a donation of 500,000 Euro for WFP interventions in Guinea Bissau. In December 2004 the Italian government had already offered 300,000 US dollars in support of the Alliance for school meals, health and feeding education in the Sahel. This latest contribution will serve to purchase 1,250 tonnes of rice for WFP development operations to feed 200,000 people for three months assisted by the ‘food and health, school meals’ and ‘food for work’ programmes.
Since the beginning of this century, 4.5 million, of whom 3 million were children, died of hunger or hunger related causes. If this rate continues by 2015 more than 15 million people will have died of hunger since the Millennium Goals were unanimously adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Millennium goals can be achieved by 2015 if action in developing countries is combined with better economic planning, more investment in the food sector and improved government .
Today at least 300 million children suffer from chronic hunger. If we exclude children receiving humanitarian assistance and those living in China, Brazil and India, countries with sufficient food to feed their hungry people, there are still 110 million children and pregnant mothers who receive no assistance. WFP estimates that 4.9 billion dollars are needed to supply them with food through activities such as school meals. (AP) (16/2/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:37; Parole:443)
