Help Fight Poverty in the World’s Poorest Countries

The Poorest Countries in the World are Home to the Poorest Children

The world’s poorest countries are home to hundreds of millions of poor children in desperate need. The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per day, and according to UNICEF, 385 million of the world’s children live below this poverty line.¹

The World Bank estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on economic growth will cause over 1.4% of the world's population (88 million to 115 million) to fall into extreme poverty.² The first increase in the global poverty rate in more than 20 years,² and a clear illustration for the connectivity and relationship between poverty and health.

Families and children living in extreme poverty in the world’s low- and middle-income countries lack access to clean water, healthcare, social services, educational opportunities and social capital. They are vulnerable, powerless and fear for their futures. An estimated 14,000 children under the age of five die every day, and more than half die from preventable or treatable causes.³ This translates into the unnecessary loss of more than 5 million young lives a year; half of which die in the first month of life.

The conditions that poor kids live in make a health condition that would be a nuisance to a child in the United States deadly to a child in poverty.

Providing Hope for Poor Children in Some of the World's Poorest Countries

The world's poorest countries are countries the International Monetary Fund ranks as having the weakest economic power. They are countries the United Nations categorizes as the poorest and weakest segment of the international community. Their low level of development is characterized by unequal income distribution, scarcity of financial resources and weak institutional support structures. Many experience political instability and internal and external military conflicts. The economies are largely agrarian, unproductive and not invested in. They rely heavily on exporting a few commodities which means they are highly vulnerable to trade shocks and economic crises.

Compassion works in eight of the world's poorest and least developed countries.* We bring hope to the children living in these countries through our holistic, long-term child development model, education and medical assistance programs, survival and youth development interventions and disaster relief efforts.

Make a donation to help address the spiritual, economic, social and physical needs of poor children in poor countries and provide them an opportunity to escape the generational cycle of poverty.

World's Poorest Countries

Compassion International works with children living in several of the world's poorest countries, including Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Haiti, Rwanda, Togo, Tanzania and Uganda. These nations and others, including Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Central African Republic, have some of the worst conditions and the hardest circumstances for poor kids to survive. For the poor children living in these nations life is not easy or comfortable.

Poor kids registered in our child development program live in highly vulnerable circumstances. The thousands of local churches we partner with in low- and middle-income countries throughout the world help these vulnerable poor children by assisting with basic human needs for clothing, shelter, nutrition, water and sanitation. They address health care needs by providing medical visits, vaccinations, and critical care assistance, and they offer educational support to allow students to attend or stay in school.

In the world's poorest countries, opportunities to break the generational cycle of poverty are hard to come by. Your tax-deductible donation gives poor kids a chance and offers children hope, where before there was none. You donation will change how child poverty affects children living in extreme poverty.