My dear friends,
I want you to know how true this information is so that you know you can trust it. Therefore, I am going to give you the sources. You will see from the quality of the sources that you can dare to believe this!
This information is all from three sources: The United Nations, The Food and Agriculture Organization The world Meteorological Organization
These are reliable sources and do not just make happy stories to cheer us.
It was collected by a distinguished Canadian academic who is senior associate at the University of Victoria's Eco-Research Chair in Environmental Law and Policy, and also holds the position of adjunct professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. This man is trained in the field he is talking about, and knows how to assess what he reads. This is news that can be trusted.
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Now: THE GOOD NEWS!
1. Since 1990, more than 100 nations cast aside military dictatorships or one-party rule and chose elected governments. Many of these nations also ratified the world's major human-rights treaties during the '90s.
2. Although the world's population doubled between 1960 and 2000, the rate of growth is now declining.
Thanks to efforts to empower women and encourage family planning, families on every continent are now having fewer children. Globally, the average fertility rate has fallen from six children per woman to 1.8 children per woman in the past 30 years.
3. Dire predictions of widespread famine have not come true. Despite the addition of three billion humans to the world's population since 1960, fewer people in total are malnourished today than in 1970. Remarkably, global food production has grown at a faster rate than the population.
4. Literacy is a cornerstone of a healthy, prosperous society. The literacy rate in the developing world has jumped from 47 per cent to 73 per cent since 1970, meaning that many more people have the tools to improve their standard of living.
5. In the late 1980's, scientists discovered conclusive evidence that industrial chemicals were destroying the ozone layer. A ground-breaking international agreement was reached in Montreal in 1987 to address the problem. Since then, global production of ozone-depleting chemicals has dropped more than 80 per cent.
6. In developing countries, a child born today will live, on average, eight years longer than a child born 30 years ago.
7. The world's poor are not getting poorer. Between 1975 and 1998, average per capital income in developing countries, adjusted for inflation, doubled. In other words, people in the world's have-not nations have twice the buying power they had 25 years ago.
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The professor says: "These seven signs of progress, like the seven human-made wonders of the world, symbolize the extraordinary potential and ingenuity of human beings. Whereas bad news induces depression and cynicism, good news provides us with hope.
A Canadian hero, Terry Fox said: "I just wish people would realize that anything is possible if you try. Dreams are made if people try."
MY DEAR FORUM FRIENDS, GO INTO THE NEW YEAR 2002 WITH HOPE, AND NEW STRENGTH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE WHEREVER YOU ARE!
Warm and caring greetings from your friend, Mary, in Canada
