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Introduction
If we do not see how we as individuals interact with and affect the ecological community of which we are part, we will not feel any sense of responsibility toward it. Without this sense of connection, we are likely to engage in irresponsible activities that could be harmful to the Earth. As we glance through this fact sheet let us realise that we should "Give Earth A Chance" a theme of this years World Environment Day 2002. It is from this premise that we look at some basic environmental facts plaguing mother Earth.

• More than 1.3 billion people live on less than $1 per day
• 800 million people are malnourished
• 1.3 billion people live without clean water
• 2 billion live without sanitation
• 2 billion people lack electricity
• 1.4 billion people are exposed to dangerous levels of outdoor pollution.
• The world's population has doubled to 6,1 billion in the last 40 years.
• The population is projected to grow to 9.3 billion over the next 50 years.

• Three hundred million people live on less than US$1 per day.
• Life expectancy is 48 years and falling.
• More than one in three children are malnourished; more than 40 per cent have no access to education. 
• Twenty-eight million live with HIV/AIDS, 
• For over 100 million people, war is a part of their daily life.

What is NEPAD?

• Nepad is a merger of the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) and OMEGA Plan
• Nepad is a vision and programme of action for the redevelopment of the African continent.
• NEPAD is a plan conceived and developed by African leaders
• NEPAD is a comprehensive integrated development plan that addresses key social, economic and political priorities in a coherent manner
• NEPAD is a commitment African leaders are making to African people and to the international community, to place Africa on a path of sustainable growth
• NEPAD is a commitment African leaders are making to accelerate the integration of the African continent into the global economy
• NEPAD has a goals to accelerate growth and sustainable development, eradicate poverty and halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process
• NEPAD, as it stands today, suffers from a lack of input from African civil society
• NEPAD sees peace, Security, Democracy and Political Governance conditions necessary for sustainable development, to occur on the African continent.

Scavenging for anything  usable or edible

"Growing mountains of solid waste, including septic tank and sewage sludge, are a serious threat to surface water, ground water, the soil and the air." - Agenda 21 The UN Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that more than 5 million people die each year from diseases related to inadequate waste disposal systems.

•  At least 60% of the countries that submitted national reports to the United Nations in advance of the 1992 Earth Summit said that solid waste disposal was among their biggest environmental concerns.
• Industrialised countries generate more than 90% of the world's annual total of some 325-375 million tons of toxic and hazardous waste, mostly from the chemical and petrochemical industries.
•  According to Worldwatch Institute, there are more than 80 000 tons of irradiated fuel and hundreds of thousands of tons of other radioactive waste accumulated so far from the commercial generation of electricity from nuclear power.
• Irradiated fuel can take hundreds of years to decay into harmless substance. Until then, it is extremely dangerous and must be kept far away from possible human contact.
• Swaziland has developed a National Solid Waste Management Strategy

• The level of carbon dioxide is increasing. Global average temperatures are increasing. Carbon dioxide, the predominant "greenhouse gas", is responsible for approximately 60% of global warming.
• In 1985, a "hole" in the ozone layer was discovered above Antarctica. 
• The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are changing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases that shape our planet's climate.
• The Earths climate has warmed by about one-half degree Centigrade this century.
• There is a significant increase in the incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in light-skinned people and an accelerated formation of eye cataracts due to an increase in ultra violet rays from the sun.
• Six countries, two of which are in the developing world (Brazil and India), are responsible for 55.8 % of the total atmospheric impact of current global emissions. The United States is the largest emitter.
• The stratospheric ozone layer filters dangerous radiation and keeps it below tolerable levels to enable life to exist on Earth. This protective layer is diminishing due to chemicals created by humankind.
•  Air pollution knows no boundaries. It affects agriculture and ecosystems far from its source.
• More than six million people live in urban areas where sulphur dioxide levels exceed World Health Organization guidelines. More than 125 million live in cities with unacceptable levels of air pollution.
• When pollutants are released into the sky from industries, they often fall back to Earth as "acid rain." According to World Resources Institute, Europe has already lost at least 22 % of its total forest cover to acid rain. As unsustainable industrialisation spreads around the world, this phenomenon is likely to happen.
• Air quality monitoring is a neglected area in Swaziland

• Scientists estimate that between 150 and 200 species of life become extinct every 24 hours.
• Mass extinction of biodiversity is linked to humankind's unsustainable methods of production and consumption.
• Tropical forests are known to contain roughly half of the biodiversity of the entire planet.
• The two most species-rich biomes are tropical forests and coral reefs.
• The deep sea floor is extremely rich in biodiversity and contains an estimated 10 million species, most of which are undescribed.
• More than 60% of the world people depend directly on plants for their medicines.
• About 12% of mammal species and 11% of bird species were classified as threatened in 1990.
• The debt burden of developing countries forces governments to produce cash crops and earn foreign exchange at the expense of biodiversity.
• There are as many as 100 million species on Earth, of which only 1.7 million have been identified.
• Humans are but one of those species.
• Illegal and uncontrolled hunting has resulted in the extermination of most of Swaziland's large mammals, especially on Swazi Nation Land.
• Swaziland is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

An estimated 25,000 people die each day as a result of bad water management. Freshwater resources are finite and exist in a closed system. Freshwater is a scarce resource. 97% of all water on Earth is salt water, filling the oceans and seas. Only 0.008 % of the planets water is available for human consumption, and is found in lakes, rivers and underground aquifers.

• This 0.008% is unevenly distributed. At least 13% of the planets renewable supply of freshwater is in Brazil.
• About 40% of worlds population depends on water from a neighbouring country. Of the more than 200 river systems shared by two or more countries, several have already caused international conflict. 
• More than 430 million people live in countries considered "water stressed" i.e. where availability of fresh water per person per year sinks below approximately 1,700 cubic meters, leading 
• There are now more than 2000 treaties between countries that relate to water rights.
• Irrigation is the largest consumer of freshwater. Much of this water is lost through evaporation.
• More than 70% of the world is without clean water.
• Swaziland is a signatory to the SADC Water Protocol.

Desertification undermines sustainable development

Desertification is not as commonly thought, the actual expansion of existing deserts. Desertification occurs through land degradation, including climatic variations and human activities. Desertification affects nearly one billion people.

Desertification is occurring in all dry lands. Desertification and land degradation undermine the goal of sustainable development by increasing poverty, poor health, malnutrition and susceptibility to disease.

• Each year the planet loses 24 billion tons of topsoil.
• Desertification is severe in Africa, where two thirds of the continent is dry lands or desert.
• Erosion, salinization, compaction and other forms of degradation affect 30% of the world's irrigated lands, 40% of rain fed agricultural lands, and 70% of rangelands.
• Decreasing soil organic matter is most always a clear indication of soil degradation.
• Desertification costs the world more than  $40 billion a year in lost productivity.
• Land degradation in Swaziland is usually caused by overgrazing, overcropping and deforestation on Swazi Nation Land.

70% of rural households rely on fuelwood as a sole source of energy

An estimated 72% of world commercial energy use is in the developed world, compared to 28% in the developing world. People rely more on biomass for energy than on all hydroelectric dams and nuclear fuel plants in the world combined.

• In Africa, per capita energy consumption is only 20% of the world average, according to World Resources Institute.
•  In Europe energy consumption is 2.3 times the global average. In the United States, it is 5.4 times the global average.
• The demand for energy in developing countries has been rising at an annual rate of 4.7 % over the last 20 years.
• Over the next 30 years, the world demand for energy will grow by 50 to 60%. Most of the increase will come from developing countries as they seek to industrialise, raise standards of living, cope with urbanisation and attend to the needs of expanding populations.
• The developing worlds share of carbon dioxide emissions could increase from 26% in 1985 to 44% by 2025.
• A study by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has indicated that approximately 90% of all trees in Africa are cut for firewood purposes.
• 70% of rural Swazi households rely on fuelwood as a sole source of energy
• Coal is the only naturally occurring fossil fuel in Swaziland.
• Total forest cover in Swaziland is approximated to be about 625,400 ha
• About 85% of the electricity sold by SEB is imported from ESKOM in South Africa. 
• It is estimated that wood fuel demand constitutes 80% of the total wood demand in Swaziland.
• The World Wide Fund for Nature says that at today's level of economic activity, the human race is operating 30% above what the Earth can provide in terms of natural resources.

Poverty limits human freedoms and deprives a person of dignity

What is poverty? The UN defines poverty as not just income poverty, although that is fundamental to addressing poverty, but also the denial of choices and opportunities for a tolerable life.Poverty is complex, multidimensional, and can be difficult to define as its identity differs from society to society.  Poverty can be seen as hunger, lack of shelter, lack of medical facilities, not being able to go to school, not knowing how to read or write.

Poverty can also mean not having a job, losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water.  Poverty can be powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.  Poverty is fundamentally an economic, social and environmental condition, which portrays notions of `scarcity and deprivation'.

• Since 1990, the number of poor people has increased by an average of 10 million/year for Latin America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa
• In Africa, 340 million people or half the population, live on less than US$1 a day.
• The mortality rate of African children under 5yrs  of age is 140 per 1000 and life expectancy at birth is only 54yrs.
• Only 58% of the African population has access to safe water.
• The rate of illiteracy for Africans over 15yrs is 41%.
• There are only 18 main line telephones per 1000 people in Africa compared to 146 for the world as a whole and 567 for high-income countries. 
• 1,1 billion people are undernourished and underweight.
• By 1998, the heavily indebted poor countries had international debts of US$214 billion a huge sum for them but equal to only 4,5 months of Western military spending.
• Food insecurity in Africa has reached a critical level. The number of undernourished stands at 200 million out of a total of 850 million.
• Swaziland is faced with a twine crisis of famine and AIDS.
• About 10% of Swaziland's population occupies and control 60% of the country's natural resources. This means that 90% of the population share among themselves 40% of the resources.
• 66% of the Swaziland population lives below the international poverty line.
• About 150 000 Swazis are at the brink of starvation (2002)
• In Swaziland 23.5% of rural households and 4.4% of urban households are over 1hours walking distance from school (Population and Housing Survey, 1991).
• The National Development Strategy (NDS) of Swaziland identifies poverty reduction as its central theme.
• Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan (PRSAP), which provide guiding policies and strategies, key projects and measures to be implemented to eradicate poverty.
• "The Umchumanisi Project," is a civil society strategy towards poverty eradication. 

What is gender?
Gender is socially constructed roles and responsibilities between men and women in a given culture or location. These roles and responsibilities can change over time, as they are learned behaviour that is culturally determined. 

• Swaziland like most societies is patriarchal in nature.
• Women in Swaziland face barriers due to the legal system. Under civil law, married women assume a minority status, marital power is vested on the husband and under customary law married women are relegated to a subservient position controlled by senior males within the marital family.
• Under both civil and customary laws women cannot own property or enter into contract independently of their spouses.
• Compared to men, women in Swaziland have poor access and control of means of production such as land, education, cattle, credit and capital as a result.
• A majority of women in Swaziland are involved in informal economic activities such as street vending, handicrafts, sewing and catering.
• At decision-making level, out of 65 members of House of Assembly, 4 (6.15 %) members are women and 6 (20%) women are senators out of 30 senators. 
• In the cabinet formed by 17 members, only 2 of them are women. The inadequate participation of women in decision-making indicates that women's concerns at different levels are ignored and not dealt with fully.
• Swaziland together with other Heads of State and Government signed the SADC Gender and Development Declaration in 1997 reaffirming her commitment two global declarations, the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies, the Africa Platform For Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
• Very little has been done in Swaziland in terms of gender balancing considering the Southern African Development Community's (SADC)'s 30 % affirmative action for women in political and decision-making positions policy, to which Swaziland is signatory.
• Swaziland has a constituent of 2.3% women recognized in high-level positions.
• The Swaziland Government recognises that gaps exist between men and women in terms of equal opportunities to participate in national development and has therefore established a Gender Coordination Unit, whose responsibilities include among others formulating a gender policy that seeks to empower women to participate in national development.
•  Agenda 21 recognises that sustainable development could be achieved if women play an active role in economic and decision-making processes. 

Africa HIV/AIDS Statistics
While some gains were made in prevention and care in a number of countries, there were 4 million new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa during 1999. In Africa, AIDS now kills ten times more people a year than war.

• 5.4 million people were newly infected with HIV in 1999. 4.7 million of these are adults, 2.3 million women, and 620,000 children under age 15. 
• At the end of 1999 there were 34.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS, 33 million adults, 15.7 million women and 1.3 million children under age 15. 
• There are now 16 countries in Africa in which more than one-tenth of the adult population (aged 15-49) is infected with HIV. 
• Approximately 71% of all HIV/AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Of the nearly 19 million deaths, almost 15 million have been in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• There are 16 countries in Africa with infection rates higher than 10%. 
• In 1999 there were 4 million new infections in sub-Saharan Africa. 
• There are 5,500 funerals each day in Africa. 
• In 1999, 2 million Africans died of AIDS. 
• There are 12.1 million orphans in Africa because of the AIDS pandemic. 
• Ten of every 11 people newly infected with HIV each minute are from sub-Saharan Africa. 
• Up to a third of the infants born to HIV-positive women become infected themselves before or during birth or through breast milk. 
• The AIDS pandemic has also had a devastating impact on Africa's agriculture, business, education, government and health systems
• Infection rates in young African women are far higher than in young men. According to studies presented in the report, the average rates in teenage girls were over five times higher than in teenage boys. Among young people in their early 20s, in nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 10 percent of the adult population is HIV positive. 

• In six countries of southern Africa, AIDS is expected to claim the lives of between 8% and 25% of today's practising doctors by the year 2005. 
• In seven countries, all in the southern Africa, at least one adult in five is living with HIV. In countries where 10% of the adult population has HIV infection, almost 80% of all deaths in young adults aged 25-45 will be associated with HIV. 
• In Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Zimbabwe, 20 to 26 percent of the population aged 15-49 is living with HIV or AIDS rates were three times higher in women. In Africa, women's peak infection rates occur at earlier ages than men's. This helps explain why there are an estimated 12 women living with HIV for every 10 men in this region. 

• Over one third (33%) of the country's population is infected with the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.
• According to the latest UN AIDS statistics about 37% of the Swaziland population aged between 16 and 45 years is HIV positive, this will lead to a drastic increase of the already large number of orphaned children in this tiny African Kingdom.
• 15 year olds now heads families.
• In the traditional, extended, families in Swaziland it is customary for the close relatives to take care of orphaned children. Unfortunately this system is unable to cope with the rapidly increasing number of Orphans. Cases were only the grandmother remains alive and is burdened with the upbringing of numerous children left to her by the untimely death of her children are no more uncommon.
• Four out of every 10 pregnant Swazi women who visited clinics and hospitals in 2000 tested HIV positive, the HIV Seventh Sentinel Sero-surveillance report said.
•  According to a joint report issued by the Swaziland National AIDS/STDS programme and the WHO, this represents a 34.2 percent prevalence rate.
• In 2000 the HIV prevalence in Swaziland was slightly lower in the rural areas (32.7 percent) than in the urban areas (35.6 percent).
• In 2000 HIV prevalence in Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) in Swaziland was estimated at 50.2 percent.
• The impact of AIDS on farming communities differs from village to village and country to country. But it is clear that the epidemic is undermining the progress made in the last 40 years of agricultural and rural development. This poses enormous challenges to governments, non-governmental organisations and the international community. The disease is no longer just a health problem -- it has become a major development issue.

• The rules enforced by the World Trade Organisation are increasingly being concentrated into the hands of international corporations and elites. 
• The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an international body that is supposed to oversee world trade to the benefit all countries all Having failed poor countries 
• The WTO now stands accused of failing citizens in favour of corporations. 
•  WTO rules make it difficult for developing countries to nurture their industries in the way that industrialised countries did during their own development. 
•  WTO rules have made it impossible for developing countries to protect their small farmers who are unable to compete with large agribusiness and heavily subsidised us and European farmers.
•  WTO rules can hamper basic economic development in the world's poorest countries, while actually benefiting richer nations and shoring up profit for Western multinationals.
• Third World countries are forced to open up their own economies to both products and investment from industrial countries at the expense of the environment. 
• The richest 20 per cent of the world's population account for 82 per cent of the trade.
• The poorest 20 per cent participate in little more than one per cent of export trade.
• In the 1990s, world trade grew at 6 per cent a year, developing countries trade by 8.3 per cent a year, but Africa's share of world trade declined sharply.
• Swaziland's trade benefits under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
• Increasing sugar cane cultivation under AGOA is threatening Swaziland's biodiversity and food security.
• Swaziland allows a five-year tax-free incentive for new foreign investors in the country.
• Swaziland is regarded as a middle-income country but 66% of the population lives below the international poverty line.

Governance

• Swazilands middle-income status has fallen 12 places in global rankings. It has moved from 113 down to 125, according to the Global Human Development Report 2002
• Swaziland is still in the medium development category with 0,577 points although she comes behind South Africa, Mauritius, Gabon and Namibia, but ahead of all other countries in Sub Sahara such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
• According to the Global Human Development Report, a country is said to have attained high human development when its human development index reaches 0,800, while medium development is between 0,500 and 0,799. Less than 0,500 points puts a country in the low category
• Human development goes further than examining a countriy's economic status, it examines political participation and good governance as a significant indicator.
• Democratic governance can trigger a virtuous cycle of development as political freedom empowers people to press for policies that expand social and economic opportunities and opens debates to help civil society to shape their priorities.
• Women hold 6.3% of total seats of parliament in Swaziland.