Affero Organizations
AIDS & Disease
Every day, nearly 7,500 people are infected with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS. Globally an estimated 33 million people live with HIV/AIDS, the majority of these people live in sub-saharan Africa, where about 60% of infected adults are women. HIV/AIDS is a disease that can be prevented and treated with antiretroviral medication and holistic community programs. ?Each year, diseases infect communities and ravage nations worldwide, many of which are preventable and easily treated. Malaria for instance will kill over 1 million people this year, 80% of which will be children in Africa. Between 350 million and 500 million new cases of malaria are reported each year and Malaria is a disease that can be prevented and treated.
Child Soldiers
Around the world, children are singled out for recruitment by both armed forces and armed opposition groups, and exploited as combatants. Easily manipulated, children are sometimes coerced to commit grave atrocities, including rape and murder of civilians using assault rifles such as AK-47s and G4s. Some are forced to injure or kill members of their own families or other child soldiers. Others serve as porters, cooks, guards, messengers, spies, and sex slaves. Approximately 250,000 children under the age of 18 are thought to be fighting in conflicts around the world, and hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces who could be sent into combat at any time. Although most child soldiers are between 15 and 18 years old, significant recruitment starts at the age of 10 and the use of even younger children has been recorded.
Clean Water
Almost fifty per cent of the developing world's population – 2.5 billion people – lack improved sanitation facilities, and over 884 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources. Inadequate access to safe water and sanitation services, coupled with poor hygiene practices, kills and sickens thousands of children every day, and leads to impoverishment and diminished opportunities for thousands more. Poor sanitation, water and hygiene have many other serious repercussions. Children – and particularly girls – are denied their right to education because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities. Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water. Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, health systems are overwhelmed and national economies suffer. Without WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), sustainable development is impossible.
Education
Receiving an education is vital to the eradication of poverty worldwide and crucial in rebuilding devastated countries and economies. Much work has been done in this area in the past 10 years but more needs to be done. In South-Asia the adult literacy rate is 63 percent, nearly 20 percent lower than the global rate, while only 43 percent of females are likely to attend secondary school. In some African countries like Burkina Faso, the adult literacy rate is only 23.6%. Access to primary education and schools for all children is a vital need to combat this major global problem.
Food & Agriculture
One of the basic necessities to life is access to safe food. Many communities around the world farm with inefficient methods and lack basic understanding on land utilization and crop production. Unbalanced diets and lack of access to a rounded diet leads to malnutrition and disease to millions. Education programs that teach improved animal husbandry skills, using natural resources sustainably, techniques to improve crop yields, introduction of new crops, health and wellness education and are being implemented all around the world in developing communities
Gender Equality
Women and girls play vital roles within families and in society as a whole, yet they remain subject to discrimination on social, political and legal levels. While many women have started ?to realise their potential, there are still huge barriers to overcome. In many countries, particularly lower-income ones, girls are more likely to drop out of school and to receive less education than boys because of discrimination or household obligations. Overall, women are much less likely to get good jobs than men or to be elected onto ?committees or into parliaments and national assemblies. Studies have proven that when women are given equal rights to education and work, the society as a whole benefits and grows.
Homelessness
An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless. This number has grown steadily in recent years and become a major problem in many major cities throughout the world. In some developing countries such as India, Nigeria and South Africa, homelessness is rampant, with millions of children living and working on the streets. Homelessness has become a problem in the countries of China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines despite their growing prosperity, mainly due to migrant workers who have trouble finding permanent homes. Homelessness is also a major issue in the US, with growing numbers of people looking for hope on the streets. Homeless people include individuals and families who are impoverished, war veterans, victims of domestic violence, those with mental illnesses, and those with addiction disorders. Not all homeless people are without jobs either — in fact, 13 percent of the homeless population is employed (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1996).
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the practice of people being tricked, lured, coerced, or otherwise removed from their home or country, and then compelled to work with no or low payment or on terms which are highly exploitative. The practice is considered to be trade or commerce in people, which has many features of slavery, and which is illegal in most countries. It is estimated that over 27 million people are victims of slavery worldwide. These victims can be used in a variety of situations, including prostitution, forced labor (including bonded labor or debt bondage) and other forms of involuntary servitude. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, with the total annual revenue for trafficking in persons estimated to be between $5 billion and $9 billion.
Medical Relief
Access to medicine, vaccines and much needed medical surgeries are often a luxury in the developing world. Simple medicine for de-worming can mean life-or-death for some children. Every minute, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth - 99% live and die in developing countries leaving over 1 million children motherless.
Orphan Care
There are an estimated 147 million orphans, defined as a child who has lost one or both parents. 13 million of those have lost both parents and 95% of all orphans are over the age of 5. The rebuilding of communities and sustainable poverty alleviation can never be accomplished if we fail to care for the worlds children who are poor and orphaned. There are many wonderful organizations that provide clothing, shelter, food, schooling, community development, hygiene necessities and much more to these children.
Poverty & Hunger
Over 1.4 billion people in developing countries live in extreme poverty, living on less that $1.25 a day. Recent increases in food prices have had a direct and adverse effect on the poor and is expected to push more than 100 million more into absolute poverty. The number of undernourished children still exceeds 140 million. Combating global poverty and hunger comes in many forms, however micro finance has risen as one of the most powerful and effective tools. Micro financing makes available small loans to entrepreneurs to start business and services to benefit their families and entire communities, empowering individuals to break the cycle of poverty.
Refugees
In 2008, there were 15.2 million refugees around the world, including 4.7 million Palestinian refugees, and it is estimated that 80 percent of refugees are women and children. Refugees are people displaced from their homes and countries due to war, conflict, corruption, genocide and more. They are unable to return to their country for fear of death. Millions around the world are waiting for relocation, some have been waiting in refugee camps for 30 years, others have found refuge in new nations only to be isolated, alone and without many basic human services.