One in five of young people in Canada live in poverty. Fifteen percent of young people are regularly and repeatedly bullied, and one in four are obese. In addition, a near quarter of Canadian youth experience concerning mental health symptoms more than once a week.
In Ghana, one in every 12 children dies before reaching the age of five. And while the country has made significant progress providing access to improved water sources, there are still about 4,000 children who die each year from diarrhea. Even more die from pneumonia, and about 23 percent suffer from chronic malnutrition linked to poor water and sanitation.
Ethiopia is an extremely poor country, with almost 95 percent of the population earning less than $2 per day. The infant mortality rate is extremely high—there are an estimated 104 deaths per 1,000 births, usually due to treatable illnesses. The main cause of death for children is malnutrition.
The need to share the Gospel in Jamaica is great. In 2017, our CEF team established local committees in all the parishes and had the goal of having all their local directors in place by the end of the year. Overall, CEF Jamaica hopes to reach 500,000 children over the next five years.
