A growing body of knowledge attests to the fact that during the first 36 months of a child's life, brain connections multiply and the motor that will fire the child's thinking and behavior patterns for the rest of his or her life is formed. As children learn to speak, feel, walk and reason, the value system against which they will judge good and bad, fair and unfair is also formed. Poor, malnourished and weak children make for a poor and powerless state. The report notes that in the poorest nations, scarce resources are used to pay loans. By investing in destructive war machines, many countries steal food, clean water, health care and schooling from their citizens.
Childhood poverty is insidious and immoral.
A U.N. Special Session on Children will take place in September 2001 as a follow-up to the World Summit for Children. World leaders will convene in New York to review the progress made over the last decade.