Today and for the days and years to come, our prayer is for a better, more prosperous, more peaceful, equal, and protected world and planet for all people, all with God’s grace and for his glory.
As of December 2018, see https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ the world’s population stood at 7.7 billion. The Philippines is ranked 13th among the most populous countries in the world. China ranks first, India second, United States third, Indonesia fourth, Brazil fifth, Pakistan sixth, Nigeria seventh, Bangladesh eighth, Russia ninth, and Mexico tenth.
Asia is home to about 59.5% of the world’s population, followed by Africa (16.9%), Europe (9.7%), Latin America and the Caribbean (8.5%), Northern America (4.8%) and Oceania (0.5%).
About 736 million people are living in extreme poverty (less than $1.90 a day), with about half of the world’s countries with poverty rates below 3 percent, according to a September 2018 World Bank report.
The United Nations Development Program 2018 Multidimensional Poverty Index showed 1.3 billion people worldwide experience poverty in their daily life, lacking in a third of the MPI’s components (health, education, and living standards).
While most of the world’s population are poor, according to the 2018 World Inequality Report, about 1% of the world’s population (about 75 million individuals) captured 27% of the world’s income while the poorest 50% (about 3.7 billion individuals) captured only 13%.
Inequality, the gap between the richest and the poorest, remains one of, if not the most important problem of our world. Countries and regions of the world are also divided in terms of their share of the world’s income and wealth.
Will 2019 improve or eradicate inequality among people, within and across nations? Let this be our collective prayer.
Children are the most affected by inequality and poverty. About 662 million children in 104 primarily low-income and middle-income countries are considered multidimensionally poor, and in 35 countries, half of all children are poor.
In 2018, the world has failed to protect children, especially those living in conflict areas, according to the UN Children’s Fund: “Children living in countries at war have come under direct attack, have been used as human shields, killed, maimed or recruited to fight. Rape, forced marriage and abduction have become standard tactics in conflicts.”
Peace remains elusive in our present world. Let us all come together to pray for peace in every heart, in every nation throughout the world. Let us pray for our world to be more protective of our children from conflict, wars, poverty, and inequality.
According to the World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Record 2018: “We are pushing our planet to the brink. Human activity—how we feed, fuel, and finance our lives—is taking an unprecedented toll on wildlife, wild places, and the natural resources we need to survive. Natural systems essential to our survival—forests, oceans, and rivers—remain in decline. Wildlife around the world continue to dwindle. It reminds us we need to change course. It’s time to balance our consumption with the needs of nature, and to protect the only planet that is our home.”
Can we protect our planet and create a sustainable world for ourselves, our children, and our children’s children?
Can we commit ourselves to forging partnerships and collective action where we are, locally and globally, to create a better world for all? Can we all pray and forge together to create a more peaceful, more prosperous, equal and protected planet for all people, for God?
Shall we all start to pray and act together now, today, this year?