Press Release PR

Instead of writing about why Blog Action Day 2008 is so important, I’m going to let some figures speak for me:

• 26,500 children died today from poverty related causes
• 1.4 billion people live below the World Bank’s poverty line of $1.25 per day living costs
• 3 billion people live on less than $2.50 per day
• 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 per day
• The richest 20% of the world’s population accounts for three-quarters of the world’s income
• 2.6 billion people in developing countries live without basic sanitation
• 1.8 million children die each year from diarrhea due to unsanitary water
• Every second child in the world lives below the poverty line

This is the 21st century.

We can build missiles that can fly through streets and be laser-guided onto a target, while we watch on our TV screens.

We can watch as an American game developer spends $35 million to satisfy a fantasy and go into space.

We can spend $20 on a movie ticket and a large bucket of popcorn only to leave half of it uneaten.

YET WE CAN’T STOP 26,500 CHILDREN FROM DYING.

No more. No more can we sit back and allow poverty to happen, safe in the false knowledge that it’s nowhere near us. After all, Africa and India are so far away. What can we do, right?

Poverty isn’t restricted to the developing countries. In the US, the national rate for child poverty is almost 20% - one fifth of all children. The UK has more than 13 million people living below the poverty line. Children that are living below the poverty line in the UK are 1.5 times more likely to die in infancy.

No more. This is what Blog Action Day 2008 is all about. We have a voice - we need to use it to be heard. We have the ears of the world and the world’s media. Our leaders have failed us, and have failed those in need the most. We need to stand up and say this stops now.

Make your voice heard today and every day until poverty is being faced head-on by those that can really make a difference. When we can spend money on food and help those in poverty, instead of spending over $340 million per day on an illegal war.

One voice can be heard amongst the silence of poverty. One person can make the difference. Begin today. And if you feel yourself asking if it’s worth it, remember this.

26,500 children died today.

(Note: Details of my financial contribution to help eradicate poverty can be found here.)

Copyright © 2008 Press Release PR. If you wish to reprint this article, please list an author credit as “Danny Brown / Press Release PR” and link the credit to http://www.pressreleasepr.com