One Child Under Five Years of Age Is Dying Every 6 Heartbeats

One Child Under Five Years of Age Is Dying Every 6 Heartbeats

If you sign this petition and ask 3 or more friends who also sign this petition within one week, and so on, we’ll have over 40 million signatures in just over 4 weeks. With 700,000 signatures by August 2013, the United Nations and governments may take the petition’s thesis (1.5% Community Tax) seriously, and Dr. John William Ashe, M.D., President of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and company, might consider weaving this petition’s thesis into his opening speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September 2013.

Sign and share the petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/68th-session-of-the-united-nations-general-assembly-one-child-under-five-years-of-age-is-dying-every-6-heartbeats-2 (short link: http://goo.gl/MZoQ5)

PETITIONING:

Mr. John William Ashe, M.D., President of the 68th Session of the United Nations’ General Assembly
Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
Mr. Hailemariam Desalegn, Chairperson of the African Union (AU)
Mrs. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, M.D., African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson
Mr. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)
Mr. Cui Tiankai, Ambassador, Embassy of the P.R. of China in the United States of America, Washington D.C.
Mrs. Faida M. Mitifu, Ambassador, Embassy of the D.R. of the Congo in the United States of America, Washington D.C.
Ms. Nirupama Rao, Ambassador, Embassy of India in the United States of America, Washington D.C.
Mr. Prabhu Dayal, Consul-General, Consulate General of India in the United States of America, Manhattan, New York
Mrs. N. Parthasarathi, Consul-General, Consulate General of India in the U.S.A., San Francisco, California
Mr. Sanjiv Arora, Consul-General, Consulate General of India in the United States of America, Houston, Texas
Mrs. Mukta Dutta Tomar, Consul-General, Consulate General of India in the United States of America, Chicago, Illinois
Mr. Anthony Isoe Okara, Deputy Chief of Staff, Bureau of the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)
Ms. Leah Kasera, Special Assistant to the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)
Mr. Akec Khoc, M.D., Head of Mission, Embassy of the Rep. of South Sudan in the U.S.A., Washington D.C.
Mrs. Nyakan Gile, Executive Secretary, Embassy of the Rep. of South Sudan in the U.S.A., Washington D.C.
Mr. Dino Patti Djalal, Ambassador, Embassy of the Rep. of Indonesia in the U.S.A., Washington D.C.
Mrs. Susan Denise Page, Ambassador, Embassy of the United States in South Sudan, Juba
Mr. Gary Doer, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada to the United States of America
Mr. Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye, Ambassador/Head of Mission, Embassy of the Federal Rep. of Nigeria to the U.S.A.
Ms. Julia Gillard, Prime Minister, Parliament of Australia
Mr. Barack Obama, President, United States of America
Mr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, United States of America
Mrs. Cora B. Marrett, Acting Director, National Science Foundation
Mr. Charles Boden, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mr. Joseph Robinette “Joe” Biden, Jr., Vice-President, United States of America
Mrs. Michelle Obama, First Lady, United States of America
Mrs. Jill Tracy Biden, Second Lady, United States of America
Mr. Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Mr. Peter Ammon, Ambassador, Germany to the United States of America
Mr. David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom

by CHiRP2020 (Community Home Renovation Project)

Did you know that according to data collected and research done by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) one child under five years of age is dying every 6 heartbeats?

If the wealthiest 50% of the world’s people (those having a minimum net wealth of USD 3,700) agreed to an annual 1.5% Community Tax (amounting to a minimum USD 55.50 annually), this could raise USD 3.3 trillion for the United Nations to (1) proceed with the Transaqua Canal and Qattara Depression Projects outlined herein, which have the potential to feed upwards of 100 million people per year, (2) organize and maintain a corps of engineers to build and renovate water wells and sanitation facilities, and establish eco-friendly farming communities in areas with high under-5 mortality, and to (3) purchase enough food to nourish the more than 800 million people undernourished and allocate to its entities (e.g., World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Health Organization, etc.), relevant non-profit organizations, governments, et al to reduce the number of children under five years of age dying due to malnourishment and lack of clean, safe and drinkable water, in the next decade, 2014-2023, from a projected 50 million to less than 5 million, and an under-5 mortality rate in all countries of less than 3.

Research conducted by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates nearly 500 million children under five years of age have died since 1970 and a regression analysis projects over 53 million more children under five years of age will die from largely preventable diseases in the coming decade, 2014-2023. [1,2,3,4,5,6]

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “About 870 million people are estimated to have been undernourished (in terms of dietary energy supply) in the period 2010–12”, and “childhood malnutrition is a cause of death for more than 2.5 million children every year.” [7] According to a WHO/UNICEF report, “If current trends continue, […] in 2015: 605 million people will be without an improved drinking water source and 2.4 billion people will lack access to improved sanitation facilities.” [8] With a gustal concerted effort addressing fWASH (food, water, sanitation and hygiene), significant strides can be made against diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia and prematurity, which in 2011 were attributable to the deaths of over 5 million children under five years of age. [1,6]

According to the Worldbank, global GDP in 2010 was USD 63 trillion and 2010 global value-added agriculture represented 2.8% of global GDP, or USD 1.8 trillion. [9,10] An estimation derived from these figures means it would would have cost USD 226 billion (or USD 241 billion in 2013 dollars) to purchase 12.6% of these agricultural outputs to feed the 870 million undernourished. [11,12] For comparison, USD 1.75 trillion was spent globally in 2012 on military expenditures, diversion of monies and forces of which could instead be diverted to an analagous United Nations organization with equivalent benefits (health insurance, housing, education, etc.) that builds water wells, renovates public sanitation facilities, establishes eco-villages, etc., combatting pneumonia, under- and malnourishment, and malaria. [13]A 1973 article outlining a proposal to generate hydroelectric power by developing the Qattara Depression specifies the total surface areas of the three lakes formed by channeling Mediterranean Sea water into the depression as 13,500 km2, 12,100 km2, and 8,600 km2, fill levels of 0.085 km, 0.075 km, and 0.065 km, representing a total water volume of 2,614 km3. [14] An FAO report states “China is the main [aquaculture] producer [from rice-fish fields] with an area of about 1.3 million hectares of rice fields with different forms of fish culture, which produced 1.2 million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals in 2010.” [15] Extending this technology to the three lakes formed by the Qattara Depression Project, with 52,747 tonnes of fish grown per km3 of flooded rice fields (1.2 million tonnes of fish grown on 13,000 km2 rice-fish fields with average flooding of 0.00175 km), we could expect the technological ability to produce 138 million tonnes of fish in the three lakes formed by the Qattara Depression Hydroelectric Power Plan. [16] With 131 million tonnes of fish produced for food globally in 2011, a 2011 global population of 6.9 billion, and these fish products providing 33 calories per capita per day, we can conclude that fish production for food provides 634,431 calories per tonne. [15] Thus, with the Qattara Depression Hydroelectric Plan having the potential to produce 138 million tonnes of fish at 634,431 calories per tonne, 200 million undernourished persons could be provided with 1,200 kcals (calories) per day merely from fish, not to mention the abutting agriculture deriving nitrogen inputs from the aquaculture, and potable water generated from desalination plants.According to the engineering firm Bonifica, IRI Group, the Transaqua Project, with an estimated initial cost of USD 100 billion, and which would divert 5-7% of the Congo River’s flow and refill Lake Chad to pre-anthropogenic global warming levels, would provide the necessary freshwater to irrigate 50,000 km2 of land in the Sahel. [17] With each hectare of Nubian agricultural land providing food for 14 persons, and estimating each hectare of these Transaqua Project transformed areas providing food for 7 persons per hectare to account for an efficiency curve, enough food to feed 35 million persons per year from these additional 5 million irrigated hectares can be estimated. [18]

Research presented in Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2012 indicates that in 2012 “global household wealth in mid-2012 totaled USD 223 trillion based on current exchange rates” and the world’s 50% wealthiest adults (2.3 of 4.6 billion adults) owned 99% of global wealth, with a minimum net wealth of USD 3,700 being required to be classified as a 50% wealthiest individual. [19] An annual 1.5% Community Tax from the 50% wealthiest individuals would raise USD 3.3 trillion for 2013/14 from 2012 wealth alone – a USD 55.50 contribution from persons who had a minimum net wealth of USD 3,700 in 2012. This 1.5% Community Tax could be contributed upon sales of fixed assets and upon remittal of income tax returns.

Join me by signing this petition which appeals to the United Nations and respective governments to establish the fiduciary capacity to receive these funds and apply them urgently, responsibly and efficiently to short- and long-term solutions, not excluding those listed above, addressing under-5 mortality, maternal health care, and related health and well-being measures.

CHiRP2020 (Community Home Renovation Project)

Signed,
[Your name]

References and Endnotes

1. “Child Mortality Data 1970-2011”, UNICEF, http://www.childinfo.org/mortality_underfive_dashboard.html FILE: 03M49WLD.xls, retrieved 2013 May 18, cached at http://goo.gl/ZTxga.

2. “Mortalities of Children Under Five Years of Age, 1970-2050 (Regression Analysis)”, CHiRP2020, 2013 May 19, http://goo.gl/jUQ92.

3. “Mortalities of Children Under Five Years of Age, 1990-2050 (Regression Analysis)”, CHiRP2020, 2013 April 16, http://goo.gl/PLAOL.

4. “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality Report 2012”, UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, http://www.who.int/entity/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/levels_trends_child_mortality_2012.pdf, retrieved 2013 Oct 13, cached at http://goo.gl/YqSab.

5. “WHO Indicator Registry”, http://apps.who.int/gho/indicatorregistry/App_Main/view_indicator.aspx?iid=2712, accessed 2012 December 26.

6. “World Health Statistics 2012”, World Health Organization (WHO), http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/44844/1/9789241564441_eng.pdf, retrieved 2012 Dec 26, cached at http://goo.gl/m9FLr. p. 12 “Childhood malnutrition is the underlying cause of an estimated 35% of all deaths among children under five years of age.” p. 80 “Cause-Specific Mortality and Morbidity”

7. “The State of Food Insecurity In The World”, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i3027e/i3027e.pdf, retrieved 2013 May 1, cached at http://goo.gl/3zV3S. “About 870 million people are estimated to have been undernourished (in terms of dietary energy supply) in the period 2010–12. This figure represents 12.5 percent of the global population, or one in eight people.” “[…] childhood malnutrition is a cause of death for more than 2.5 million children every year […]”

8. “Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2012 Update”, WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, 2012. p. 2 “Over 780 million people are still without access to improved sources of drinking water and 2.5 billion lack improved sanitation. If current trends continue, these numbers will remain unacceptably high in 2015: 605 million people will be without an improved drinking water source and 2.4 billion people will lack access to improved sanitation facilities.”

9. “Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)”, Worldbank, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS/countries/1W?display=graph FILE: NV.AGR.TOTL.ZS_Indicator_

MetaData_en_EXCEL.xls, retrieved 2013 May 17, cached at http://goo.gl/7p5qR.10. “GDP (current US$)”, Worldbank, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD FILE: NY.GDP.MKTP.CD_Indicator_MetaData_en_EXCEL.xls, retrieved 2013 May 17, cached at http://goo.gl/lilUw.11. “CPI Inflation Calculator”, US Dept. of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm, accessed 2013 May 17.12. “World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision – File 1: Total population (both sexes combined) by major area, region and country, annually for 1950-2100 (thousands)”, United Nations Population Division. http://esa.un.org/wpp/Excel-Data/population.htm FILE: WPP2010_DB2_F01_TOTAL_POPULATION_BOTH_SEXES.XLS, retrieved 2012 Jul 3, cached at http://goo.gl/vgckO.13. “Trends In World Military Expenditure, 2012 – Table 1. The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2012”, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), http://books.sipri.org/product_info?c_product_id=458, accessed 2013 May 22, cached at http://goo.gl/US0a3.14. “The Qattara Depression”, Dr. Ing. Guiseppe De Martino, WATER POWER, 1973 Jan. http://www.qattara.it/qattara_files/qattara.pdf, retrieved 2013 Feb 26, cached at http://goo.gl/CMo6z.

15. “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2012”, FAO, 2012, http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/i2727e/i2727e.pdf, retrieved 2013 May 3, cached at http://goo.gl/33GOi. p. 3 “Capture fisheries and aquaculture supplied the world with about 148 million tonnes of fish in 2010 (with a total value of US$217.5 billion), of which about 128 million tonnes was utilized as food for people, and preliminary data for 2011 indicate increased production of 154 million tonnes, of which 131 million tonnes was destined as food (Table 1 and Figure 1, all data presented are subject to rounding).” p. 29-30 “While aquaculture production has shown strong growth in developing countries, particularly in Asia, annual growth rates in developed industrialized countries averaged only 2.1 percent and 1.5 percent in the 1990s and 2000s, respectively. In 2010, they produced collectively 6.9 percent (4.1 million tonnes) by quantity and 14 percent (US$16.6 billion) by value of world farmed food fish production, compared with 21.9 percent and 32.4 percent in 1990. While feed is generally perceived to be a major constraint to aquaculture development, one-third of all farmed food fish production, 20 million tonnes, is currently achieved without artificial feeding (Figure 7). Oysters, mussels, clams, scallops and other bivalve species are grown with food materials that occur naturally in their culture environment in the sea and lagoons. Silver carp and bighead carp feed on planktons proliferated through intentional fertilization and the wastes and leftover feed materials of fed species grown in the same multispecies polyculture systems. The cultivation of almost 90 percent of the world’s rice crops in irrigated, rainfed and deep-water systems equivalent to about 134 million hectares offers a suitable environment for fish and other aquatic organisms. As regards the general scale of rice–fish culture, China is the main producer with an area of about 1.3 million hectares of rice fields with different forms of fish culture, which produced 1.2 million tonnes of fish and other aquatic animals in 2010.” p. 82 “On average, fish provides only about 33 calories per capita per day. However, it can exceed 150 calories per capita per day in countries where there is a lack of alternative protein food and where a preference for fish has been developed and maintained (e.g. Iceland, Japan and several small island States). The dietary contribution of fish is more significant in terms of animal proteins, as a portion of 150 g of fish provides about 50–60 percent of the daily protein requirements for an adult.”

16. “Culture of Fish in Rice Fields”, FAO, 2004, http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/a0823e/a0823e.pdf, retrieved 2013 May 17, cached at http://goo.gl/3mI04. p. 5 “The remaining rice lands are classified as floodprone rice ecosystems (almost 8%), subject to uncontrolled flooding, submerged for as long as five months at a time with water depth from 0.5 to 4.0 m or more, and even intermittent flooding with brackish water caused by tidal fluctuations.”

17. “Transferring Water from the Congo to Lake Chad: The Transaqua Project”, EIR, Vichi M., 2011 Jul 22, http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2011/eirv38n28-20110722/31-36_3828.pdf, retrieved 2013 Feb 26, cached at http://goo.gl/z41o0. “In its ‘fall’ towards Lake Chad, this mass of water would be able to generate about 30 billion kWh of electricity per year, 2/3 of which would be produced in Central Africa and 1/3 in Chad. Once the Lake’s previous dimensions had been restored (20-25,000 square km surface area), the excess water available would be used for planting approximately 3 million hectares of land, to support the agricultural and zootechnical development of a vast area, in particular, in the territory of Chad, but also in the countries of Nigeria and Cameroon, as well as in Central Africa along the course of the Bamingui. The sum of these cultivable areas can be estimated to include approximately 50,000 square kilometers of territory (equal to about 1/6 of Italy).” “At the time, a cost estimate for Transaqua—which was essentially arbitrary, as are all estimates not supported by a feasibility study—indicated an investment of between $30 and 40 billion, an amount that, at the time, was considered too burdensome to be accepted by the numerous, and inevitable, skeptics.”

18. “The Transaqua Project: Making Africa Bloom”, EIR, 2009 May 1, http://www.larouchepub.com/eiw/public/2009/2009_10-19/2009_10-19/2009-17/pdf/45-55_3617.pdf, retrieved 2012 Jun 13, cached at http://goo.gl/0Jw6d. “In Chad, probably using in part the bed of the Chari itself, the waters could be conveyed to the areas of Chad and Niger north of Lake Chad which are in the process of becoming desertified. In these regions of the Sahel, it can be reckoned that between 12 and 17 million acres could be  brought under intensive and semi-intensive type irrigation development (for purposes of comparison, it is pointed out that 40 million Egyptians live in an irrigated area of under 7 million acres, although cultivated very intensively).”

19. “Global Wealth Report 2012”, Credit Suisse, 2012 October, https://infocus.credit-suisse.com/data/_product_documents/_shop/368327/2012_global_wealth_report.pdf, retrieved 2013 Mar 7, cached at http://goo.gl/tplcg. p. 9 “We estimate that global household wealth in mid-2012 totaled USD 223 trillion based on current exchange rates” p. 15 “Our estimates suggest that the lower half of the global population owns barely 1% of global wealth, while the richest 10% of adults own 86% of all wealth, and the top 1% account for 46% of the total.” p. 12 “For convenience, we disregard the relatively small amount of wealth owned by children on their own account, and frame our results in terms of the global adult population, which totaled 4.6 billion in 2012.” p. 13 “[…] a person needs at least USD 71,000 to belong to the top 10% of global wealth holders and USD 710,000 to be a member of the top 1%. Taken together, the bottom half of the global population possess barely 1% of total wealth, although wealth is growing fast for some members of this segment. In sharp contrast, the richest 10% own 86% of the world’s wealth, with the top 1% alone accounting for 46% of global assets.” p. 15 “In contrast, while North Americans dominate the top of the wealth pyramid, wealth in the USA has grown more modestly, from USD 39.5 trillion in 2000 to USD 62 trillion today.” p. 15 “Table 1: Winners and losers in the global wealth distribution”.

Petition and References on Google Drive folder: http://goo.gl/CM27o
[Last updated: June 5, 2013 04:03 PM PST]