The Parallel Crisis 50000 Children Die from Hunger Every Day

The Parallel Crisis: 50,000 Children Die from Hunger Every Day

The Sahel region in Africa is facing a severe food crisis. The droughts of 2005, 2010 and 2012, along with increased insecurity, are driving many families into chaos.

More than one million children have no access to food, medicines, safe drinking water, sanitation or education.

The image of childhood is the image of our moral condition as adults. A civilization that fights against children is a planet with no hope. Having children live in poverty, abused, beaten and sacrificed is a crime against humanity that will soon be judged by our future generations.


According to the World Health Organization, about 50 million newborns are not registered. It is estimated that 100 million abortions are conducted annually throughout the world. More than 120 million children lack basic nutrition. About 50,000 children die of hunger per day. Also, one of every four children under 5 years of age will experience the effects of depletion, anemia, disability, physical or mental defects.

Moreover, child mortality rates vary by region: in affluent countries the rate consists of 6 children per every 1,000 births; in Latin America the rate is 31 per 1,000; in South Asia it is 89 per 1,000; and in sub-Saharan Africa it reaches up to 169 per 1,000.

Almost 25 million who are under 18 years of age live in refugee areas. They are recruited from the scourges of war. About 16 million children are orphans; a quarter of them due to the virus of death, i.e. HIV/AIDS. About 80% of them live in Africa.

It is also estimated that 400 million children are slaves for the despotism of exploitation. These include children chained to hard labor due to the indigent conditions within which their parents survive in. They are forced into agriculture, deposits, mines, industries and as slaves to landowners. There are now about 500,000 child soldiers. Nearly two million kids are forced into being sex objects.

Finally, FAO’s annual report was published under the title: "The State of Food Insecurity in the World". The report asserts that eating is a basic right of humanity and that hunger is an insult to human dignity. (Translated by Gianna A. Sanchez Moretti).

Author and journalist Clemente Ferrer has led a distinguished career in Spain in the fields of publicity and press relations. He is currently President of the European Institute of Marketing.
clementeferrer3@gmail.com