Earth year 4,492,056,017

Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog I asked that you commit to following my blogs for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. In today’s Blog I want to talk about PARTNERSHIPS TO ACHIEVE GOALS.

 The Problem

In 2014 Official development assistance (ODA) i.e. international aid given to developing countries was $135 billions – the highest ever recorded but the intended impacts and effects are often eroded by lack of effective systems and accountability in the developing world and inadequate monitoring of effectiveness of AID.

Local capacity in tax and other revenue collection needs to be to be strengthened and additional financial resources need to be mobilised. There is also a need to develop, transfer and diffuse environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms and to build local capacity.

Do you feel concerned about the unfairness of this world that leaves millions struggling to survive and bring up their families on low wages in the developing world?

Do you get angry at the wastage of Aid intended to help the poor but which never seems to get to them or improve their lives.  Have you ever thought about what YOU personally could do to help make the world a better place?  Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 1 in 5 persons in developing world lives on less than $1.25 per day
2. Highest poverty rates are found in small fragile and conflict affected countries
3. Every day in 2014 , 42,000 people had to abandon their homes due to conflict
4. 795 Million people in the world are malnourished
5. 1 out of 9 persons in the world goes to bed hungry

 wcydo (wich-ee-do    What Can You Do?)  

1. Buy fair trade fruit once a week to help poorest farmers
2. Buy a fair trade (non fruit) products once a month to help poorest workers
3. Get friends together and sponsor a girl to complete her schooling
4. Join a pressure group to demand action on this issue globalcitizen.org
5. Write to National politicians to push for action in resolving conflicts

Tell others and encourage them to join our group and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter  and support us  for our crowdfunding launch.

 

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post I asked that you commit to following my blog few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION.

The Problem

Worldwide, about 3 billion tonnes of food is wasted each year while almost 1 billion people are undernourished and another 1 billion go hungry. Only 0.5% (less than 1/200th ) of fresh total water in the world is available for all of human consumption and over 1 billion people do not have access to fresh water. Despite this mankind is polluting water sources faster than nature can recycle and purify water in rivers and lakes so the problem is getting worse year by year.

Do you feel guilty about the excessive consumption we do and the food and resources we waste when millions of the poor are undernourished and hungry. Are you angry at an unfair world where inequality and unfairness denies opportunities to hundreds of millions in much of the world? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 1 billion people are undernourished and 1 billion go hungry worldwide
2. 1.8 billion people have to drink water that is polluted with human toilet waste
3. Wastage of water contributes to global water stress
4. Pollution affects land productivity and poisons species in the seas
5. Discarded plastic bags contribute to excessive pollution and kill sea life

wcydo (wich-ee-do What Can You Do?)

1. Buy fair trade products to help poor workers have a living wage
2. Buy ugly / misshapen fruits and vegetables so good food is not thrown away
3. Buy smaller quantities to avoid wasting food and support recycling charities
4. Use reusable water bottles to avoid billions of plastic bottles polluting the oceans
5. Share the facts about global wastage and consumption with family and friends.
6. Use re usable bags when shopping instead of plastic bags

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 13.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post I asked that you commit to following my blog for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blog posts have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally could take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES.

The Problem

Half of humanity – over 3.5 billion people now live in cities and by 2030 this will rise to be 60% of global population. Over 95% of such urban expansion will occur in the developing world where over 828 million people already live in slums and rubbish tips around cities. Such rapid urbanisation will exert even more pressure on freshwater supplies, sewage, environment and public health unless effective action is taken on a number of aspects to create safer, more sustainable ways of living in such communities.

Do you feel guilty about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and the terrible conditions in which many of them have to live and bring up their families? Do you get frustrated that little seems to be done to help such people? Do you get angry at the unfairness of the world where so many struggle to survive and feed their families? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 828 million poor people have to live in urban slums with very limited services
2. 95% of the expected future urban growth will occur in cities of the developing world
3. 90% of the 1.24 million global road deaths happen in low and middle income countries and poor provision for pedestrians and cyclists in urban areas in developing countries results in up to 75% of road deaths being to such road user groups

wcydo (wich-ee-do What Can You Do?)

1. Buy fair trade products to help poor workers have a living wage to feed their families
2. Fund raise or donate to charities that assist people in the developing world, such as www.eesi.org, www.habitat.org
3. Write to your politicians to increase aid and trade with developing world
4. Share the facts about global urbanisation with family and friends.
5. Write to newspapers encouraging others to join campaigns or donate to charities

Encourage others to join us and to visit wcydo.com to sign up for our free newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 12.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth / Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post I asked that you commit to following my blog for the next few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blogs have started to give you some facts about the biggest and most important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally should take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about the need to REDUCED INEQUALITIES.

The Problem

Income inequality has increased in recent years. More than 75% of population now lives in societies where income distribution is now more unequal than it was 25 years ago in 1990.  Inequality harms growth, poverty reduction and relations between persons and is a threat to long term social and economic development. Children in the poorest 20% of populations are 3 times more likely to die before their 5^th birthday than the children of richest 20%. Persons with disabilities are up to 5 times more likely than the average person to incur catastrophic health costs. Income inequality can only be tackled if inequality of opportunity is addressed.

Do you feel guilty about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and the inequality and unfairness that denies opportunities to hundreds of millions in much of the world? Are you frustrated at the lack of progress in helping the poor? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 75% of persons now live in societies where income distribution is more unequal
2. Children of the poorest 20% are 3 times more likely to die before age of 5 than those of richest
3. Disabled persons are 5 times more likely to incur catastrophic health costs

wcydo (wich-ee-do – What Can You Do?)

 Buy fair trade fruit and products to help poor suppliers achieve more income

1. Support use of official aid to promote fairness and equality in developing world
2. Support charities such as www.epi.org
3. Write to your politicians to increase aid and trade with developing world
4. Share the facts about inequalities with family and friends.

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App.  See you next week on blog post 11.

 

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s  Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (Week 1, Blog 1) I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blog posts  for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blogs have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally could take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE.

The Problem

Basic infrastructure (roads, electrical networks, sanitation, water supply, etc.) remains very scarce in many developing countries. Around 2.6 billion people cannot access electricity full time, 2.5 billion people do not have access basic sanitation, 800 million do not have access to clean water and over 1.1 billion do not have access to a reliable telephone service. Inadequate infrastructure limits access to healthcare, education, markets, jobs, information and training. This perpetuates poverty, limits job opportunities and is a barrier to doing business. Infrastructure helps countries to industrialise their processes and create better paid jobs. Every one job created in manufacturing creates 22 jobs in other sectors.

Do you feel guilty and helpless about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and the inequality that denies opportunities to hundreds of millions in much of the world? Do you think more should be done to change this? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. Small and medium manufacturing and industrial processing companies make up 90% of businesses worldwide and provide over 50% of employment
2. Renewable energy now with 2.3 million jobs could provide 20 million jobs by 2030
3. In developing countries only 30% of agricultural production is processed so there is huge scope for agro business in developing world
4. 6 billion people do not have reliable electricity full time

wcydo (wich-ee-do – What Can You Do?)

 Buy fair trade fruit and products to help poor suppliers to grow and develop

1. Encourage/promote more use of renewable energy
2. Write to your politicians to increase aid and trade with developing world
3. Donate to charities such as www.constructionforchange.org
4. Share the facts about Innovation and Infrastructure with family and friends.

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 10.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (Week 1, blog post 1) I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blog  for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blog posts have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally could take. In today’s Blog post, I want to talk about DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.

The Problem

Global unemployment is increasing and by 2012 there were nearly 202 million unemployed of which 75 million were young men and women. Since nearly 2.2 billion people live on incomes below $2 / day, poverty eradication can only be achieved if we can find stable and well paid jobs for all. Agriculture remains the single biggest employer and source of income for 40% of the world so helping poor farmers and poor workers to have a living wage can help. Education can lift people out of poverty and research shows that 40% literacy is needed for a country to achieve rapid economic development. However, 124 million children and adolescents are not in school so will never be able to aspire to better paid jobs. We need to to do more to change this.

Do you feel guilty when watching TV reports about the suffering of the poor in developing countries? Are you frustrated that not enough is done to reduce the inequality and unfairness that denies opportunities to hundreds of millions in much of the world? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 470 million jobs are need for new entrants to the job market in the next 15 years
2. 2.2 billion people live on less than $2 per day so cannot afford access to technology
3. 40% of the poor work in agriculture and earn very low wages
4. There are 145 million orphans in the world who have no one to help them

wcydo (wich-ee-do What Can You Do?)

1. Donate to or fund raise for charities, such as www.clintonfoundation.org
2. Donate your old computers to charities sending computers to developing world
3. Buy fair trade fruit and products to help the poor get a living wage
4. Write to your politicians to increase aid and trade with developing world
5. Share the facts about the need to have good jobs with adequate pay in developing world with family and friends.

Tell others and encourage them to to join our group. See you next week on blog post 9.
Want to know more? Visit wcydo.com

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (week 1, blog post 1) I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blog posts for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blog posts have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally could take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION.

The problem

Water scarcity affects more than 40% of the Global population and 1.7 billion people live in areas where the water usage is greater than the ability to replenish the water being used. Around 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services such as toilets or latrines and 80% of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged straight into rivers and seas without any pollution removal. At least 1.8 billion people have to use drinking water that is polluted with human toilet waste. Around 70% of the water taken from rivers lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation.

Do you feel guilty when watching TV reports about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and seeing little children carrying large buckets of dirty water for miles to their homes?. Are you frustrated that not enough is done to stop the inequality and unfairness that denies opportunities and clean water to hundreds of millions in much of the world?. Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 663 million people do not have access to improved water sources
2. 1000 children die each day (around 365,000 / year) due to preventable water and sanitation related diarrhoeal diseases
3. 840,000 die each year due to lack of clean drinking water
4. 1.8 Billion people have to use drinking water that is polluted with human toilet waste

wcydo (wich-ee-do What Can You Do?)

1. Drink less bottled water. 16 litres of water is needed to make 1 litre of bottled water.
2. If you must drink bottled water, use reusable bottles to stop billions of discarded plastic bottles ending up on oceans and killing wildlife.
3. Donate to charities such as www.dri.edu, water.org
4. Share the facts about clean water and sanitation with family and friends.

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 8.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (week 1, blog post 1), I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blog posts for the next few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blogs have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you personally could take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT.

The problem

Women in developing countries often have to walk for hours to fetch water and they toil in drought prone fields to feed their families. Women are half of the world population but get access to only a minute portion of the worlds resources and power. Poor girls have less opportunities for education and 15 million girls under 18 are married off by their families each year with little or no choice. Four out of 5 victims of human trafficking are girls and 30% of women suffer physical or sexual abuse. The risk of death for a child under 5 is twice as high for mothers who are not educated so education is a major tool to bring gender equality, to increase earning potential and to increase a girl’s life chances. Just 1 year extra in school can increase a woman’s earnings by up to 20%.

Do you feel guilty when watching TV reports about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and the inequality and unfairness that denies opportunities to girls and women in much of the world? Do you feel helpless and frustrated about such unfairness? Have you ever thought about what YOU might do to help make the world a better place where such inequality can be eliminated? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 250,000 maternal deaths and 1.7 million new-born baby deaths could be avoided if there was better health care for women
2. 125 million women are affected by Female Genital Mutilation
3. Women in age range 15-44 are more at risk from rape or violence than from Cancer, accidents, war or Malaria

wcydo (What Can You Do?)

1. Join with friends or family to sponsor a girl child in a developing country through primary school
2. Donate once a month or fund raise for www.equalitynow.org,  www.unwomen.org, www.clintonfoundation.org
3. Share the facts about Gender inequality with family and friends

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 7.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (week 1, blog 1), I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blog posts for a few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blogs have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you should take. Today I want to talk about Education.

The problem

Enrolment in primary schools of developing countries has improved considerably in recent Decades but 57 million children still remain out of school. Of the 103 million young people who have no literacy skills, 60% are women. Poor girls have less opportunities for education and are twice as likely to be married off while still in childhood (15 million girls under 18 are married off each year). This can have devastating consequences as risk of death for a child under 5 is twice as high for mothers who are not educated. Education is therefore a major tool to bring gender equality, to increase earning potential and to increase a girl’s life chances. Just 1 year extra in school can increase a woman’s earnings by up to 20%.

Do you feel guilty when watching TV reports about the suffering of the poor in developing countries and the lack of educational opportunities which deny them the chance have a good job to be able to earn enough money to be able to live? Do you feel sorry for them? Do you feel helpless and wish something could be done ?. Have you ever thought about what YOU personally might do to help make the world a better place where such persons might be helped? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 57 million children do not go to school
2. 103 million young people worldwide lack basic literacy skills
3. Girls have less access to educational opportunities than boys
4 Just 1 year extra in school can increase a woman’s earnings by up to 20%

wcydo (What Can You Do?)

1. Join with friends or family to sponsor a girl child in a developing country through primary school
2. Donate once a month or fund raise for www.unitedworldschools.org, www.i4qed.org
3. Join a pressure group heforshe.org
4. Share the facts about Education with family and friends

Encourage others to join us and to visit wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 6.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post (week 1,  blog post 1 – Introduction) I asked that you commit to following my twice weekly blogs for the next few weeks to give me a chance to explain the most important issues affecting our joint survival. Subsequent Blogs have started to give you some facts about the big and important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you should take. In today’s blog post I want to talk about HEALTH and WELL-BEING.

The problem

Health activities over the last 15 years have had some successes but there is still much to do. Since 2000 the chances of mothers dying in childbirth has reduced by half but in developing countries the maternal death rates are still 14 times higher than in developed countries. Measles vaccines have averted over 15 million deaths but children born into poverty are still twice as likely to die before they reach age 5. AIDS remains a major problem and in 2013 there were 2.1 million new HIV infections of which 240,000 were to children. Although there have been improvements in recent years, HIV is the leading cause of death worldwide for women of reproductive age. Out of the 250,000 new HIV infections among adolescents in 2013, two thirds were to adolescent girls.

Do you feel pity when watching TV reports about the poor health facilities and suffering of the poor in developing countries who have no access to health services and cannot afford medicines? Do you feel sorry for them? Have you ever thought about what YOU might do to help make the world a better place where such persons might be helped? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts

1. 6 million children die before they reach 5 years of age
2. Children born into poverty are twice as likely to die before they are 5
3. Child born to an educated mother 50% more likely to survive to reach 5 years
4. 22 million people with HIV have no access lifesaving medicines

wcydo (What Can You Do?)

1. Share the facts about Global health to family and friends to encourage action
2. Support health charities working in developing countries, such as internationalmedicalcorps.org, www.doctorswithoutborders.org, www.hki.org, www.pih.org
3. Write to your politicians asking what your country is doing to help on this topic.

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 5!

Earth year  4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

In my first blog post I asked that you commit to following my blogs for the next few weeks to give me a chance to explain the important issues affecting our joint survival. Blog post 2 started to give you some facts about the topic of Poverty and what sorts of actions are needed. Now I want to talk to you about HUNGER.

The problem

The vast majority of the worlds’ hungry people live in developing countries where nearly 13% of the population (about 1 in 9 persons) is undernourished. Two thirds of all those undernourished are from Asia and poor nutrition causes nearly half of the deaths in children under 5. In sub Saharan Africa, the rate of undernourishment is around 23% and in developing countries 1 in 3 children suffer stunted growth because of poor nutrition.

Do you feel guilty and helpless when watching TV reports about the extremely poor and hungry? Do you feel sorry for them and the starving children you see when there are reports of disasters and catastrophes from the developing world? Have you ever thought about what YOU might do to help make the world a better place where hunger and suffering could be reduced? Now is your chance to do something to change the world!

The facts:

• 795 million people around the World are under nourished
• 66 Million primary school age children attend classes hungry
• 1 person in 9 of the world population goes to bed hungry
• Hunger kills more people than AIDS, Malaria and TB combined

wcydo (What Can You Do?)

1. Buy fair trade fruit once a week to help poor farmers
2. Support charities such as www.stophungernow.org, www.riseagainsthunger.org, www.echonet.org www.fmsc.org
3. Share the facts about Hunger to family and friends so they do it too

Encourage others to join us and to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and information about our proposed wcydo App. See you next week on blog post 4.

Earth year 4,492,056,017
Mother Earth/ Gaia‘s Blog

Mankind, My children

Last week in my first blog post I asked that you commit to following my blogs each week for the next few weeks to give me a chance to explain the important issues affecting our joint survival. I was pleased to see that Mankind appears to have at last begun to recognise the risks and is taking action but you need to make sure the promises of the leaders are delivered.

I would like to now give you some basic facts about the biggest and most important Global issues that need to be addressed and what sorts of actions you should take. In today’s Blog post I want to talk about POVERTY.

The problem

Did you know that the highest poverty rates are found in small conflict affected countries and that every day 42,000 people have to abandon their homes to seek  protection from conflict or war? Do you feel guilty when watching TV reports about the extremely poor and the starving children in refugee camps that you see when there are reports of disasters and catastrophes? Have you ever thought about what YOU might do to help make the world a better place where such poverty and suffering could be reduced? Now is your chance to do something!

The facts

• 836 million people live in extreme poverty
• One in five persons in developing world lives on less than $1.25 a day
• Agriculture is the single largest employer and and the biggest source of income for 40% of the global population and the largest source of income for poor households

What Can You Do?

1. Buy fair trade fruit once a week to help poor farmers
2. Buy a fair trade (non fruit) product once a month to help poor workers
3. Donate to charities, such as www.oxfam.org, www.care.org, www.savethechildren.net
4. Share the facts about Poverty to family and friends so they do it too

Tell others to join our group ask them to visit www.wcydo.com to sign up for the newsletter and information about our crowdfunding launch in November 2017.

See you next week!

Mother Earth/ Gaia ‘s Blog
Earth year 4,492,056,017

Mankind, My children!

Please listen to my story. I was born 4.5 billion years ago and for most of my life I was a lonely, barren and uninhabited rock floating through space. Then a miracle happened and to my great joy, I gradually changed into a planet with my land, oceans and air teaming with life and vegetation and all living eco systems in harmonious balance. I was delighted and proud to be a mother to such profusion of life and to become known throughout the Universe as the “blue” planet.

Mankind taking over the world

If the whole of my history to date was shown as 1 single hour, then in just the last few minutes of that hour, you, Mankind, were born and because of your energy and intelligence you became my favourites. I let you dominate, bully and exploit my other children, did not discipline you enough when you were young, did not teach you right from wrong and continually made excuses for your bad behaviour and kept forgiving you. As a result, I now see that I spoiled you. You came to think that the whole of Earth and its resources were yours for the taking and that no one else mattered. In your greed and uncaring way, you took whatever you wanted without ever asking for my permission or thinking about the consequences of your actions on other species sharing the planet and even on yourselves. That is why I am now writing to you as individuals directly to try to explain the problem more clearly and to show you what needs to be done to nurse me and your species back to health.

Did you know that

• About 66 million primary school children attend classes hungry and 795 million people around the world are undernourished while 1.3 billion tonnes of food ends of rotting in bins or spoiling worldwide?
• More than 1 billion people do not have access to fresh water and at least 1.8 billion people have to use drinking water that is polluted with human toilet waste?
• One in 5 persons lives on less than $1.25 per day and 836 million people still live in extreme poverty?
• Each day 1000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation related diarrhoeal diseases ?

What can you do?

Each week, for the next few weeks, I will give you some basic facts and information about one of the major problems facing both of us and which will influence our survival. In particular, I will challenge you each day and ask What can you do? (get used to this expression and challenge. This will be abbreviated to and pronounced as wcydo (wich – ee – do) and I will be using this a lot in coming blogs!). After giving you some facts, I will suggest a number of simple actions that you, your family and friends can do to contribute to a solution. Please encourage others to befriend me and read my twice weekly blog and pass on the facts and proposed actions to all your family, friends and acquaintances. Ask them to then pass these on to their friends and acquaintances with the same instructions so that we can multiply the efforts to maximise our impact and to build a movement to take effective action to save us both.

Our work will start next week and tell others to join us to view these blog posts and to visit wcydo.com to sign up for our newsletter and follow us. Get ready!