wfn.org | Children continue to face life-and-death struggles, report shows

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Nov. 9, 1998        Contact: Tim Tanton*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.
{650}

NOTE: This story is a sidebar to UMNS #648.  

By Robert Lear*

NORCROSS, Ga. (UMNS) - Life-and-death problems facing the world's
children continue to worsen, despite signs of hope, according to a
report on a United Methodist bishops' initiative.

"The more we focus our attention on children and the poor, the more
aware we become of the extremity of the plight of the 'least of these,'
" according to a review of the Council of Bishops' Initiative on
Children and Poverty, which began in l995. The review was presented to
the bishops on Nov. 4.

"Accelerating gaps between the enriched and the impoverished in the
United States and around the world place growing millions at risk," the
statement said. "The global economy increasingly resembles a giant
casino in which the few are enormously enriched, while myriads toil
without prospect of a decent chance at life's necessities.
   
"Children and the poor continue to be the primary victims of violence;
and growing violence by children against children shockingly illustrates
the poverty of spirit present in our communities and nations."

Children are dying from poverty-related causes at the rate of 1,458 per
hour, Bishop Marshall L. (Jack) Meadors Jr. of Jackson, Miss., told his
colleagues during their autumn meeting at Simpsonwood Conference and
Retreat Center. The cost of treating one child could be as little as 10
cents, he said. Meadors is chairman of the bishops' initiative.

According to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund,
malnutrition is a factor in the deaths of more than half of the nearly
12 million children under age 5 who die each year in developing
countries. An estimated 67 million children are below the weight they
should be for their height.
   
John B. Hardman, executive director of the Carter Center in Atlanta,
told the bishops that occurrences of a once-deadly worm disease have
decreased to 20,000 cases, and elimination of the disease is in sight.
Progress also is being made against "river blindness" caused by a tiny
fly getting into the bloodstream via polluted water.
   
"What  we do in villages generates hope and overcomes fatalism," Hardman
said. Faith groups are making an important contribution to the work in
about 31 African nations, he added.
   
Part of the bishops' initiative on children focuses on raising $12
million through a "Hope for the Children of Africa" appeal. The bishops
personally have pledged more than $100,000 to the effort, and church
members can contribute through the denomination's Advance program of
designated giving.

# # #                                      

*Lear is a retired staff member of United Methodist News Service
residing in Wernersville, Pa. 
***************
To unsubscribe, reply to this message and put unsubscribe in the subject
line.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/