Over half the global population dwells in a poverty-stricken environment where human suffering abounds. The following statistics underscore the human tragedy.

• 8 million people around the world die each year because they are too poor to stay alive.
• 20,000 people perished yesterday of extreme poverty.
• 850 million people in the world suffer from chronic hunger.
• Between 3 and 4 billion people live on less than $2 per day.
• 100 million children are currently at risk of being stunted by malnutrition.
• Nearly 2 million children die each year from diarrhea.
• 2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation.

• 44% of the African population lives in extreme poverty on less than one dollar a day.
• Total population of Africa is 922 million (2005).
• 15,000 Africans die each day of preventable, treatable diseases (malaria, TB, etc).
• Between 1 and 3 million African children die from malaria each year.
• 200,000 children from West and Central Africa are sold into slavery every year.
• At least 80% of the poor in Africa do not have access to financial services.
  
• Average annual income per person (as of 2006):
       USA - $43,462 – ($119.00 per day)
       Cameroon – $1050.00 – ($2.88 per day)
       Uganda – $340.00  - (93 cents per day)
       Malawi - $250.00 -  (68 cents per day)
       Congo - $140.00 – (38 cents per day)
       Burundi - $110.00 -  (30 cents per day)

Sources:

“The End of Poverty”, Jeffrey D. Sachs, (2005)
“A Billion Bootstraps”, Phillip Smith and Eric Thurman, (2007)
“The Fortune At the Bottom of the Pyramid”, C.K. Prahalad, (2006)
The World Bank
The United Nations