Without spending much time considering the unpleasant question of why the situation of children is in its present state, the delegates to the World Summit for Children spoke confidently about the future and vowed to tolerate the situation no longer. Their “Plan of Action” resolved, among other things, to achieve the following goals by the year 2000:

◻ To reduce the under-​five child mortality rates of the year 1990 by one third.

◻ To reduce severe and moderate malnutrition among under-​five children to one half of 1990 levels.

◻ To provide universal access to safe drinking water and to sanitary means of excreta disposal.

◻ To protect children in especially difficult circumstances, particularly in situations of armed conflict.

The additional cost of programs to bring about the goals that could prevent the deaths of 50 million children in the 1990’s has been estimated at $2.5 billion per year.

That is not big money in global terms. In one year American companies spend $2.5 billion on cigarette advertisements. In one day the world spends $2.5 billion on the military.

Presently, military expenditures​—conservatively estimated by the United Nations to be over $1 trillion annually—​exceed the combined annual incomes of the poorest half of humanity. The diversion of even 5 percent of this vast sum would be enough to speed up progress toward reaching the summit goals. For example, the price tag of a single F/​A-18 fighter jet (over $30 million) is equal to the cost of enough vaccines to protect 400 million children against killer diseases.

The nations are able to meet the ambitious goals set out at the summit. They have the knowledge, the technology, and the money. The question remains, Will they?

A Bright Future for Children

AT THE World Summit for Children, many world leaders spoke confidently about the future. They predicted “a new era” for children, “a new dedication to the needs of the child.” They spoke of “‘a new solidarity’ giving ‘life to a united and determined world coalition’” to help the children.

Those are noble words. But just how far the nations will go toward achieving their goals remains to be seen. It is worth noting that within five months of the summit, the nations fought in the Persian Gulf a war that proved to be one of the most expensive​—$61 billion—​and environmentally destructive ever. In its aftermath hundreds of thousands of people in Iraq and Kuwait were displaced. Thousands perished​—at one stage hundreds of people every day—​from starvation, exposure, malnutrition, and disease. About 8 in 10 were women and children.