just the facts

 

It’s important to have some good facts up our sleeves, inside apron pockets or tucked into our high-tops — whether we are seasoned activists or just beginning our advocacy. Memorize facts that move you, then move others from concern to action by sharing them. Be sure to know your sources, because sometimes the truth is hard to believe.

Our tax dollars at work: The 2008 US budget request for military spending, now referred to as “security” spending is projected to be $699 billion – bigger than all other military budgets combined. This represents a 61% increase since 2001. For a number of years, experts have confirmed that 15% of the budget could be shifted to programs that nurture & protect the lives of children without weakening the strength of the US military. SHIFT HAPPENS!!!! Mothers*, it’s our job to decide how we want to spend our tax dollars, because business-as-usual just got an urgent memo from its mother saying her children will no longer be ignored.


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Just the Facts, Ma’am

  • Worldwide, 1 child dies every 3 seconds due to malnutrition and mostly preventable diseases. One billion children, almost every other child in the world, live in poverty. (source: UNICEF)
  • Fourteen million children worldwide have lost one or both parents to AIDS. (source: UNICEF)
  • Ninety percent of war casualties are civilians — almost half of these victims are children. (source: UNICEF)
  • Everyday in the U.S., more than $1 billion is spent on the military while 1,700 babies are born without health insurance and 2,500 babies are born into poverty. (source: Children’s Defense Fund)
  • Fifty-seven percent of the U.S. 2006 discretionary budget goes to military spending — everything but Medicare, Social Security and a few other small-ticket items (source: U.S. Office of Management & Budget.) The U.S. military budget plus additional funds allocated for the “war on terror” is as big as the defense budgets of all other countries combined. (source: Institute for Policy Studies)
  • In 2006, U.S. taxpayers spent $535 billion on national defense and $19 billion on international development. (source: U.S. Government, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)
  • Seventy-eight percent of Americans favor helping poor countries develop their economies as a way to fight terrorism. (source: Center for Global Development, 2004)
  • World leaders have committed themselves to a set of eight targets called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which if adequately funded, will halve extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. (source: U.N. Millennium Project)
  • More than 60% of Americans believe that contributing 0.7% of the GNP to meet the MDGs is the right thing to do. 0.7 refers to the repeated commitment of the world's governments to commit 0.7% of rich-countries' gross national product (GNP) to Official Development Assistance. (source: U.N. Millennium Project)
  • On average, humans use around 20% more resources than the Earth can replenish. Americans use 500% of their share, Italians 200% of their share and Mozambicans use around 40% of their share. (source: Global Footprint Network)
  • Women spend 83% of the money in the U.S. We can use this economic power to create enormous change. Inspire women to flex some economic strength on behalf of children! (source: Time Magazine)
  • The percentage of female representatives in national legislatures is: Rwanda: 48.8, Islamic Republic of Pakistan: 21.6, US: 15