We expect my niece to be born today. And as the excitement grows I started thinking about how lucky she is to be born into this family.
I wouldn& #39;t say we& #39;re especially privileged (my family lives in Hungary, Eastern Europe) but the global picture shows otherwise.
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I wouldn& #39;t say we& #39;re especially privileged (my family lives in Hungary, Eastern Europe) but the global picture shows otherwise.
- as a start, she& #39;s born in a proper hospital by proper doctors. Maternal mortality rates are only 17 in 100.000 live births, while half of the world& #39;s countries still couldn& #39;t reach the U.N. target of max 70.
https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality">https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-...
https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality">https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-...
- she will be born as a girl, but she will never have to worry about female genital mutilation (which affects 3 million girls/year)
https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/
-">https://www.who.int/reproduct... she will not be forced into an arranged marriage (which represents 53.25% of all marriages)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriage">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arra...
https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/
-">https://www.who.int/reproduct... she will not be forced into an arranged marriage (which represents 53.25% of all marriages)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arranged_marriage">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arra...
- she will only hear about child marriage, which unfortunately affects 1/3 of girls in developing countries.
https://www.icrw.org/child-marriage-facts-and-figures/
-">https://www.icrw.org/child-mar... when she goes to school, 17% of the world& #39;s children are already working (that& #39;s a staggering 265 million).
https://ourworldindata.org/child-labor ">https://ourworldindata.org/child-lab... #childlabour
https://www.icrw.org/child-marriage-facts-and-figures/
-">https://www.icrw.org/child-mar... when she goes to school, 17% of the world& #39;s children are already working (that& #39;s a staggering 265 million).
https://ourworldindata.org/child-labor ">https://ourworldindata.org/child-lab... #childlabour
- she will spend 12 years in school, while there are countries where it& #39;s only 2 years on average.
https://ourworldindata.org/global-education
-">https://ourworldindata.org/global-ed... she& #39;ll have access to qualified teachers, while 617 million children are unable to reach minimum proficiency in reading and maths
https://www.unicef.org/education ">https://www.unicef.org/education...
https://ourworldindata.org/global-education
-">https://ourworldindata.org/global-ed... she& #39;ll have access to qualified teachers, while 617 million children are unable to reach minimum proficiency in reading and maths
https://www.unicef.org/education ">https://www.unicef.org/education...
- my niece will never experience hunger (approx. 3.1 million children die from undernutrition each year and 66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry)
https://www.worldhunger.org/world-child-hunger-facts/">https://www.worldhunger.org/world-chi... #poverty
https://www.worldhunger.org/world-child-hunger-facts/">https://www.worldhunger.org/world-chi... #poverty
- or poverty - two-third of the world population lives on less than 10$/day; and every tenth person on less than 1.90$.
https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty ">https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-p... #poverty
https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty ">https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-p... #poverty
- she will hold a passport that gives her access to 163 countries visa-free
http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/hungarys-passport-is-one-of-the-most-powerful-in-europe/
-">https://abouthungary.hu/news-in-b... she will never have to worry at the airport security checks because of her skin tone or religion
http://abouthungary.hu/news-in-brief/hungarys-passport-is-one-of-the-most-powerful-in-europe/
-">https://abouthungary.hu/news-in-b... she will never have to worry at the airport security checks because of her skin tone or religion
- oh and religion: she will be totally free to choose if she wants to follow any, while 70% of the world& #39;s population lives in countries restrictions on religion.
https://www.pewforum.org/2009/12/17/global-restrictions-on-religion/">https://www.pewforum.org/2009/12/1... #FreedomOfExpression
https://www.pewforum.org/2009/12/17/global-restrictions-on-religion/">https://www.pewforum.org/2009/12/1... #FreedomOfExpression
- when she grows up, she will build her career; while only less than half (47.7%) of all women participate in the labor force.
https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-the-workforce-global/
-">https://www.catalyst.org/research/... she will earn 9.4% less than her male colleagues but it& #39;s still better than the OECD average (13%)
#indicator-chart">https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/gender-wage-gap.htm #indicator-chart">https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/...
https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-the-workforce-global/
-">https://www.catalyst.org/research/... she will earn 9.4% less than her male colleagues but it& #39;s still better than the OECD average (13%)
#indicator-chart">https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/gender-wage-gap.htm #indicator-chart">https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/...
- she can make decisions of her own body: she will have access to safe abortion, while 42% of women of reproductive age live in the 125 countries where abortion is highly restricted.
https://www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-worldwide-2017#">https://www.guttmacher.org/report/ab... #abortionrights
https://www.guttmacher.org/report/abortion-worldwide-2017#">https://www.guttmacher.org/report/ab... #abortionrights
- she can love whoever she wants, and if she ends up loving another girl, that& #39;s fine too.
They could get into a legal de-facto relationship; while there are still 73 countries where homosexual activity is illegal (in 8 it& #39;s punishable by death)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/lgbti-rights-around-the-world-in-2018/">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/20... #lgbtq
They could get into a legal de-facto relationship; while there are still 73 countries where homosexual activity is illegal (in 8 it& #39;s punishable by death)
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/lgbti-rights-around-the-world-in-2018/">https://www.weforum.org/agenda/20... #lgbtq
- she will ask for soda and sugary drinks while 1/3 of the world& #39;s population doesn& #39;t use a safely managed drinking-water service; 785 million people lack even a basic drinking-water service.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water">https://www.who.int/news-room... #cleanwater
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water">https://www.who.int/news-room... #cleanwater
- and she will live a long, happy life for about 80.66 years; which is 27 years more than the average life expectancy in some African countries.
#all-charts-preview">https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy #all-charts-preview">https://ourworldindata.org/life-expe...
#all-charts-preview">https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy #all-charts-preview">https://ourworldindata.org/life-expe...
if these statistics are not shocking enough, there& #39;s a lot of other things to consider:
- freedom of speech
- access to public healthcare
- protection of domestic violence
- being white
- living in a democracy
- living in a place with low air-pollution
- having both parents
- freedom of speech
- access to public healthcare
- protection of domestic violence
- being white
- living in a democracy
- living in a place with low air-pollution
- having both parents
I am super excited about my niece to be born, and I will be the cool uncle to spoil her.
But I also want to acknowledge the privilege that she& #39;ll borning into (and the one I have, my family has).
A privilege to a safe, comfortable life.
But I also want to acknowledge the privilege that she& #39;ll borning into (and the one I have, my family has).
A privilege to a safe, comfortable life.