South Asia Post

Facts speak out for the futility of any war like the one in Iraq.

The total cost of the War in Iraq (till mid June 2007) is $440,000,000,000. This could provide 'Any One' of the following resources:

1,128,205,128,205 Meals For Starving People.
506,224,257 Clean Water Wells.
13,836,477,987 Adult Cataract Operations. Restoring sight to the blind.
125,714,285,714 Blankets for refugees. In emergencies, families often leave home with only the clothes they are wearing. Blankets give essential protection from the chilling cold.
47,058,823,529 Mosquito Nets. Two million people die every year from malaria, most are children under five.
13,845,185,651 Child Immunizations. Protect a child from the six childhood killer diseases - diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, polio, tetanus and tuberculosis. A gift of life every child must have.
313,859,762 Houses for family's currently living in cramped, unsanitary and dangerous conditions.
118,886,145 Schools Furnished with desks, chairs, tables, blackboards - vital things children need to build a foundation for learning.
23,542,001,070 Children supplied with school books for a whole year.
440,000,000 Landmines removed from the ground.
1,705,756,930 Adult Literary Classes.
1,333,333,333 World Response Medicine Boxes. Each containing essential medicines to treat the most common diseases for a community of one thousand people for approximately three months.
47,058,823,529 Fruit trees planted. Providing a giant boost to the diet and health of a poor family.
39,215,686,275 Fishing Nets. Give a man, woman or child a fishing net and they - and their families - will have a source of food.
18,106,995,885 Nanny Goats. Milk, cheese and kids. Families in places like Bangladesh can earn a living by starting a small goat-herding business.
15,691,868,759 Chickens. Eggs mean protein - vital for every diet. Three chickens can produce enough eggs to feed a whole family. They'll produce baby chicks too.
39,215,686,275 Training courses for a health workers. Providing a local health worker basic skills on how to treat , prevent and stop the spread of the most common life-threatening diseases.
11,210,191,083 Children’s School Desk and School Supplies. For children who have no place to sit, study and read this gives one child a desk with pencils, pens and books.
1,705,756,930 Wheelchairs. For a disabled child, a wheelchair can be the ticket to freedom and education.
629,398,638 Vocational Scholarships. One year programme helps young people learn a trade and gives them the vocational and technical training they need to improve their future.
39,215,686,275 Water Filters. Poor families in places like Cambodia, have no choice but to drink water full of bacteria and parasites. Water filters saves lives by screening out small but deadly bugs.
6,725,771,935 Bicycles for a child to get to school every day.
44,000,000,000,000 Chlorine Tablets to make water safe to drink.

Refugees

Wars -- international and civil -- have forced millions of people from their homes, communities and 
livelihoods. According to UNHCR, the  number of refugees in the world has increased for the first time 
since 2002, mostly due to the war in Iraq.

The total under the UN agency's mandate rose 14 percent last year to almost 10 million people. Other 
crises, such as drought and natural disasters, are expected to continue to drive up the number of 
refugees around the globe.

The environment refugees

There is going to be new category of refugees worldwide of those would get uprooted due to climate 
change.  They could run into millions by mi 21st century and Asia besides Africa would be the worst hit.

[Courtesy Share the World’s Resources, an organisation committed to peace and justice]

BACK