Poverty is a social, economic, and political problem of enormous proportions and complexity, and children are its most vulnerable victims. The statistics only tell part of the story: as many as forty million people die each year of poverty-related causes, of which ten million are children. Poverty threatens and sometimes destroys valued relationships and denies the world the gifts of those whose lives never reach their potential.
Compounding the tragedy of poverty´s existence is the fact that it is preventable. Economic deprivation has always ravanged the earth. What is different today is that the technical means exist to prevent the premature deaths resulting from poverty. Science and technology have made available the tools for providing every person with adequate nutrition. Further, medical science knows how to prevent most childhood diseases that kill the world´s impoverished children. Lacking are the moral vision, political will, and motivation to address the problems associated with poverty.
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