Get the facts about social issues in developing countries and how they affect children and their families.- An estimated 20 million children worldwide have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights violations.
- In 2007, for the first time in history, the majority of people lived in urban areas. Throughout most of the developing world, this results in larger slum populations.
- Nearly 30 percent of women worldwide give birth before age 18.
- Some 200 million women who wish to space or limit their childbearing lack access to contraception.
- Nearly one in five parliamentary seats in 2008 were held by women, bringing the percentage to 18 — with the highest percentages being in Europe and the Americas. Out of 189 governments, women hold only 13 of the highest positions of state.
- Young people ages 15 to 24 represent close to half of the world's increasing number of jobless people — estimated at 192 million in 2006. This number is expected to increase by 50 million by the end of 2009. In many countries, youth are more than three times as likely as adults to be seeking work. This presents an especially urgent challenge for developing countries, home to 85 percent of the world's youth.
- Over one-third of all Internet users in the world live in developing countries, whose share of the world´s "Internet population" grew by nearly 50 percent between 2000 and 2003.