UNICEF has put out an analysis and interactive mapping tool ranking the wealthier countries on how they do when it comes to child well-being. The US is right down there in the bottom third of this report card, with Lithuania and Romania. Go Team America! (Below is just a screen grab. Go to link)
The US Department of State compiled a map showing the location and number of aid worker victims since 2001. It is careful to mark the important point that the majority of these workers are national staff members. When the headlines report kidnapped or killed staff they often lead with the Westerners. That makes sense given that these headlines are coming from western media outlets appealing to a western audience.
What is disconcerting is to see the steady rise in the number of victims from 90 in 2001 to 308 in 2011. Part of this is attributable to the war in Afghanistan and the genocide and ensuing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Regardless, it is a depressing trend to observe.
Check out the map for more:
The Guardian has published a global map of murder rates based on data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The story accompanying the murder map said:
Comparing murder rates of countries can really highlight the countries with problems – the ones in serious need of attention. A high murder rate gives a “tip off” that something needs to change.
Yes, to start with people need to stop killing each other. The U.S. is in the orange category, like much of Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe — and unlike the less murderous “green” regions of Europe, Canada and even the Middle East.
Millions of people, perhaps as many as a billion people, suffer from hunger and inadequate, intermittent access to food. Malnutrition in children is a massive global health problem. And “food insecurity” is on the increase due to rising food prices, agricultural losses, instability and an inequitable food distribution industry.
InterAction, with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has developed Food Security Aid Map to provide detailed project-level information on food security and agriculture work being done by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The site can be browsed by location, sector, organization or project.
Below is a screen grab. Here is a link to the interactive map.
Interaction
Food crisis map
