Many Africans living south of the Sahara grow up without access to basic necessities, like sufficient food, clean water, primary education, and public health services to combat preventable illnesses. As a result, the potential of individuals as well as nations goes unrealized.
- One in
three Africans suffers from malnutrition.
- Over 50
million African children do not attend primary school.
- Some 24 million Africans are infected with HIV/AIDS; this epidemic threatens to devastate the social and economic life of the continent, where it has already created more than 10 million orphans.
Despite this disturbing reality, Africa does offer success stories. These gains demonstrate that significant improvements are achievable. But in order to multiply them throughout the continent, Africa needs an aid program akin to the Marshall Plan that helped Europe recover from World War II. This assistance would help Africa develop its existing natural and human resources and thereby enable it to nurture its democracies, to strengthen its economies, and to fight AIDS. The economic, political, and social problems Sub-Saharan Africa faces are substantial, but developments both new and old - disease-fighting strategies, information technology, and new thinking about development aid - mean that progress against these problems is within reach.