Children At Risk

Worldwide there are almost 2 billion children at risk. The fact that so many children are being neglected, abandoned and abused is the biggest social problem the world faces today. These are children who are without influence, power or option; children who are hurting and suffering deeply. They are the silent majority  the full extent of their tears and fears known only by God.

Everything that is corrupt in our societies seems to inflict the cruelest blows on these vulnerable little ones who bear the horrible marks of :

• street children;
• sexually exploited children and adolescent mothers;
• children disabled by handicaps and diseases;
• orphans;
• children suffering from drug abuse; and
• war refugees, those traumatized by war, and those victimized by land mines and other weapons of war.

The following statistics serve well to illustrate the enormity of the problems at hand:

• As of the year 2000, half of the global population is children; 2 billion of these little ones will live in extreme poverty or be at risk.
• Today, there are an estimated 100 million street children in the world; by the year 2020 the number will have reached 800 million. The Philippines has approximately 1.7 million alone.
• More than 35,000 children under the age of 5 die every day as a result of malnutrition or starvation. This is the leading cause of death among children.
• There are at least 10 million child prostitutes today; more than 800,000 girls, ages 7 to 16, are active prostitutes in Thailand alone.
• More than 2 million children die every year from treatable diseases-many times due to their lack of immunizations.
• Worldwide, 10 million children will become orphaned as a result of AIDS in the next 5 years; 1,500,00 children are currently infected with AIDS.
• Over 100 million children are exploited child laborers.
• Every year 40 million children are aborted.

Asia’s Little Ones • 1445 N. Boonville • Springfield, MO 65802-1894 • PH: 1.417.862.6155 • FAX: 1.417.862.6141