More than half the world’s children, or more than 1 billion, suffer extreme deprivation because of war, poverty and HIV/AIDS, the United Nations Children’s Fund says in its State of the World’s Children 2005 report. The report, "Children Under Threat," says that advances made in the last 15 years in health and education have been offset by HIV/AIDS and war.

Forty-five percent of the 3.6 million people killed in war since 1990 were children, the report says.

Other findings:

• 640 million children do not have adequate shelter.
• 500 million children have no access to sanitation.
• 400 million children do not have access to safe water.
• 300 million children lack access to information (TV, radio or newspapers).
• 270 million children have no access to health care services.
• 140 million children, most of them girls, have never been to school.
• 90 million children are severely food deprived.
• 2 million children, mostly girls, are employed in the sex industry.

This article originally appeared in the March/April 2005 issue of World Ark magazine, a publication of Heifer International [2]. Used with permission.