17 October 2006

ActionAid welcomes Madonna’s efforts to bring the plight of orphans in Malawi to the world’s attention, but is concerned that whilst one child may have a better life, hundreds of thousands more will be left behind to live in extreme poverty.

ActionAid spokesperson, Jane Moyo said: "There are nearly one million 'baby David’s' in Malawi.

"The reality is that inter-country adoption cannot solve the problem of child poverty: that requires systematic and long-term effort at a community and international level.

"By the end of today 16,000 children will have died because they did not have enough food to eat. That is a terrible indictment of the world we live in.

"To make a real difference, we have to fight the root causes of poverty."

ActionAid believes that a useful first step would be for Madonna to help put pressure on world leaders to keep their promise to provide AIDS drugs to all those who need them.

"Keeping more parents alive would drastically lower the number of vulnerable children in countries such as Malawi," said Jane Moyo.

Another way to help is by sponsoring a child. Child sponsorship supports not only the child, but the community they live in. Children grow up in their own culture, and if orphaned, with any remaining family they have left.

ActionAid sponsors are currently supporting over 100,000 children and their communities around the world. In Malawi, ActionAid has over 2,000 sponsored children.