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Helping Save Children from the Seven Leading Causes of Death and Suffering
World Children's Fund-HK is driven by a vision. We are confronting the seven major global crises facing children today. Mr. Joseph Lam's vision calls for responsible, private-sector responses to hunger, disease, homelessness, exploitation, illiteracy, family breakdown, and civil strife. To fight these seven terrible crises, we have embraced the Seven Rights of a Child Vision Statement:
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No Child Goes Hungry - Six million children under the age of five, die of malnutrition every year. We want to help change the fact that 58 million children under the age of five are malnourished - many starving to death - in developing countries.
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No Child Remains Sick - About two million children under five years of age die every year from six vaccine-preventable diseases in the third world: diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, polio, TB, and tetanus. Just as these diseases have been controlled in most lands, we believe that they must be controlled everywhere in this century.
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No Child Goes Homeless - Wherever and whenever disaster strikes, we are determined to help provide shelter. No child should remain homeless from earthquakes, famines, floods, wars, or for any other reason.
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No Child Goes Unprotected - Over 250 million child laborers are exploited in the third world through domestic service, indentured labor, sexual slavery, industrial and agricultural jobs, or as street criminals. We help provide protection for children from exploitation of all kinds.
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No Child Goes Unschooled - More than 130 million children in developing countries do not attend school and are needlessly destined for a life of illiteracy. More than 60% of these are girls. We are helping establish schools and alternative means of education to populations where education is not currently available.
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No Child Goes Uncared For - Every child deserves a loving home and family. We advocate adoption, foster care, and surrogate family formations in orphanage settings as a last resort when no other family can be found for abandoned or orphaned children.
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No Child Suffers Violence - During the last decade, two million children have been listed as killed in wars and genocides. Another four to five million were disabled and 10 million traumatized. We believe in protecting children from every enemy of their precious little lives.
Joseph Lam believes that there is no reason why any of these terrible statistics should not and cannot be changed if the people of the world will work together. The decision is up to us. Together, we are changing the numbers - one child at a time! |
