Latin American children lack water and sanitation. Children of a lesser God.

[demoleft]

BBC, 1 August 2007.

"More than a third of children and teenagers in Latin America lack access to safe drinking water in their homes, a United Nations report says."

"It says the disparity between children and adults is even greater in terms of lack of access to sanitation."

The social status is of some account, as usual.

"The worst affected groups are black and indigenous children, particularly in Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia, it says."

BBC report, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6925300.stm

The ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean; the Spanish acronym, CEPAL) writes:

"(30 July 2007) In Latin America, 35.3% of children and teenagers under the age of 18 lack adequate access to drinking water in their homes, versus only 27.4% of the population aged 19 and over. The disparities in access to sanitation are even more severe, given that on average, 42.7% of the population under the age of 18 either lacks or has inadequate access - a rate that drops to 36.7% of the population aged 19 and over. In both cases, those most affected are children under the age of 5, indigenous or afrodescendent children and adolescents, as well as the poor and those living in rural areas.
...
Inequities in access represent a serious threat for the nearly 21 million children under the age of 5 in the region who lack adequate access to sanitation. Thousands of cases of infant mortality and malnutrition could be avoided every year with substantial improvements in access. These are challenges addressed in the Millennium Development Goals and the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

The ECLAC document:
http://www.eclac.org/cgi-bin/getProd.asp?xml=/prensa/noticias/comunicados/5/29325/P29325.xml&xsl=/prensa/tpl-i/p6f.xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xsl

Here's another example on how to invest our Countries' money in a democratic way. Better than fueling M.E. countries with weapons.

[lvx35]

1. I've heard that a lot can be done to address this.

As far as building wells and so forth. This is extremely admirable work for those who undertake it.

[demoleft]

2. Agree. They undertake works that give sense to a whole life. Unsung heroes, sometimes. n/t

[LeftishBrit]

3. This is horrific...

'Thousands of cases of infant mortality and malnutrition could be avoided every year with substantial improvements in access'.

You'd think the 'Pro-Life' crowd would be worried about this sort of thing; but their concern for babies seems to end once they're born.