Did you know that around the world there are an estimated one hundred and forty three million orphans?
To give you some perspective of how massive that number is; consider this:
143,000,000 orphans standing shoulder to shoulder will go around the 10,913 mile perimeter of the USA nearly 4 times; they would reach around the earth over 2 times; you could fill Michigan University’s stadium 1,330 times;
92% of the world’s orphans are in developing countries.
Out of those 143,000,000 orphans an estimated 15,000 children die every day from hunger related causes…hunger and malnutrition are 100% preventable.
It is estimated that by the year 2020 with the rate that children are becoming orphaned there will be more than 200 million children orphaned around the globe- over 2.8% of the world’s population.
Webster’s dictionary defines an orphan as; a child deprived by death or abandonment of one or both parents; one deprived of protection.
The life of an orphan is something most of us can’t comprehend. Seven percent of child orphans are stolen and forced into prostitution. Many orphans have no clean drinking water to drink or food to eat and are forced to sleep in piles of garbage on the streets in the sewers. They live their lives void of love, comfort, and security. Their lives are full of fear, uncertainty, sickness, and often result in death.
It is for these children that we created this site. It is because we believe every child deserves a future and a hope.
We need to be their voice and their strength. We need to stand up for them and help bring about justice!
Don’t let the numbers and need overwhelm you. Don’t allow yourself to be numb and paralyzed. You may not be able to help all 143,000,000 orphans but you can help one! You can save a child’s life today buy purchasing from our store.
Our International Orphan Report
The rate of orphans in the world is a constant concern for governments and human rights groups, especially with the spread of the AIDs pandemic in developing countries. Many in developed countries do not realize the volume of young children who have been orphaned by disease, violence, natural disasters, unsanitary water, poverty, famine, population control, and a devaluing of female children. Millions of children, however, are left without parents or guardians, on the streets, in the gutters, and in orphanages around the globe where they must fend for themselves, often with no food or clean drinking water.
On any given day, 39,000 children are forced to leave their homes and live on the street because a parent or guardian died or was abused in some form. Over 40,000 children under the age of 5 will die each day from malnutrition and diseases that can be easily preventable by vaccines those in the western world have come to take for granted.
Children on their Own
Millions of children are left on their own each year. Around the world, UNICEF estimates that there are between 140 million and 190 million orphans, equal to nearly two thirds of the United States population.
In the United States, where parentless children are taken into state protective custody and put into the foster care system, there as many as 500,000 children in the system each year. Some of these children are taken from living parents due to poor care, while others are placed in foster care due to a lack of guardians after the death of both parents. Of those taken into custody each year, an average of 50,000 are adopted each year, leaving nearly 120,000 waiting to be cared for or adopted permanently into a home.
And while the foster care system in the United States is far from perfect, often failing children who could have been otherwise cared for under better circumstances, there are millions of children throughout the world who do not have even that much.
According to UNICEF’s most recent “State of the World’s Children” report, the number of orphans has continued to grow in many developing and third world countries, due in large part to the spread of famine, violence and diseases – in particular AIDs.
| Region | Number of Orphans (all causes) | Number of Orphans (AIDs) |
| Africa | 58,400,000 | 14,200,000 |
| Middle East and North Africa | 6,800,000 | n/a |
| South Asia | 50,000,000 | n/a |
| East Asia and Pacific | 31,300,000 | n/a |
| Latin America | 10,600,000 | n/a |
| Industrialized Nations | 4,900,000 | n/a |
| Developing Countries | 150,000,000 | n/a |
| Worldwide Statistics | 163,000,000 | 17,500,000 |
The numbers clearly show a much higher figure for orphans in third world and developing countries with 92% of the world’s orphans coming from developing countries. Another statistic shows that 25% of the world’s orphans come from the least developed countries in the world. These numbers are unsustainable, with too little food, water, and far too much exploitation to keep those children safe.
The Future for Orphans
Orphan rates are expected to increase most dramatically in those developing countries where AIDs is a prevailing factor. The good news is that government agencies and international aid organizations have had an impact with the mortality rate of infected parents and the infected rate dropping in many hard hit countries like Uganda. Statistics show that the mortality rate would likely be dropping in these countries if it were not for AIDs, a disease that so often claims both the mother and father of a child due to how it is spread sexually.
Actual orphan numbers are expected to continue increasing for at least the next 5-10 years, though at a slower pace than they increased in the 1990s and 2000s. This means that by 2020, more than 200 million children could be orphaned around the globe – over 2.8% of the world’s population. Programs and systems are going into place to help reduce those numbers but that does not help the children who are right now suffering on the streets of Africa or Southeast Asia.
Causes of Orphaning
The causes of parent loss are varied throughout the globe, from natural causes and catastrophic accidents to the pandemic level spread of disease in developing countries. In Africa, where the world’s largest concentration of orphans live, more than 24% of children who are orphaned had parents stricken by AIDs. The number has increased steadily, double and in some cases tripling the rate of orphans since 1990 when the AIDs rates were first calculated.
Other causes of parent loss, however, include violence, another predominant factor in developing countries. Wars raging in Africa, central and south America, and Southeast Asia account for a striking percentage of orphans around the globe, and have accounted for a sharp rise in the orphan rate of Middle Eastern countries.
In Asia, where strict population control measures have been put in place, particularly in China, female children have been devalued to a level that has left them abandoned in the streets and on the steps of orphanages as parents hope to have male children instead.
Other issues are just as severe and include natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake in Haiti has left as many as 1 million children orphaned and wandering the streets. Past natural disasters such as the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in China or the Tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2007 have also created a disproportionate number of orphans.
Life as an Orphan
Many people overlook the severe impact that being an orphan can have on a child. The immediate and traumatic emotional vacuum of losing one’s parents is amplified by those who would take advantage of young children left parentless.
Children under the age of 15 are far more likely to be stolen from the streets and forced into child prostitution – the fate of 7% of orphans in developing countries. Many orphans have no clean water to drink or food to eat and are forced to sleep in piles of garbage, on the streets or in the sewers just to keep warm. Other children are bought and sold as child labour or sexual commodities as young as five years of age and most children left on the street to fend for themselves will be victims of violence from local gangs. An especially prevalent myth in AIDs ravaged Zimbabwe states that a man infected with AIDs can be cured by sleeping with a virgin. This leads to rampant sexual abuse and mistreatment of young female orphans.
Children without parents, left to fend for themselves on the streets, are far more likely to be taken advantage of in almost every way. From trafficking to slavery to child abuse, they have no power to take back what they have lost as their innocence and childhood are ripped away from them.
Where You Can Learn More
Parentless children around the globe are not completely alone. There are foundations throughout the world that have made it their mission to help as many of this disadvantaged, traumatized children as possible. Most notably, UNICEF has stepped up to become the world’s leading voice in child protection. Their annual state of the world’s children report draws attention to the plight of young ones in nations outside our own and their fundraising efforts help spread AIDs education and feed orphans who have been left to fend for themselves. You can also learn more about the AIDs pandemic and its effect on young children by visiting Avert.org.
We can’t emphasize enough the NEED and DESPERATION that these millions of precious children face.
Will you join us in saving lives? Please visit our shop and help us in the fight to put an end to this injustice!
Sources:
UNICEF – “The State of the World’s Children”
UNICEF – “Millennium Development Goals”