The cost of inequality
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Your support makes all the difference.* 1.3 billion people live on less than $1 a day, a figure that is growing; 2.8 billion – almost half the world's population – live on less than $2 a day.
* The richest fifth of the world's population enjoys 80 per cent of global income, while the poorest fifth has just 1 per cent of it.
* Third World debt is in the region of $400bn.
Sub-Saharan Africa spends $40m a week on debt repayment.
* 130 million children are without access to education.
* 2 million people will die of HIV/Aids in the next year.
* 800 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are not getting enough food.
* 3 billion people have no access to adequate sanitation.
* The gap between the poorest fifth and richest fifth of the world's population has doubled between 1960 and 2000.
* A World Health Organisation plan to save the lives of 8 million people a year would require an increase in spending on health in poorer countries of about $50bn a year – about the same as the planned increase in the US defence budget in 2003.
* Unless Third World debt is written off, UN plans to halve hunger and extreme poverty and tackle the HIV/Aids pandemic are likely to fail.
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