While wages remain flat, the costs of basic necessities are increasing. The cost of living has grown dramatically over the past two decades. Health care costs has risen ten times faster than wages over the past decade as such that if you don’t have the right money to pay for treatment, the doctors will leave abandoned to die. And the personal savings rate is now the lowest it's been since the Nigerian Independence.

The reason is straightforward, Children in Crisis believe that at the heart of the poverty, deprivation and conflict that affects so many communities in the developing world lies illiteracy and ignorance. The information that enables people to fulfill their potential and develop their skills is denied to those who cannot read or write. People cannot make choices without the knowledge and understanding of what those choices are. It is no coincidence that regional warfare, genocide and seemingly inhumane cultural practices take place in countries with the highest rates of illiteracy.