World Refugee Day

• Gabon $ 22 000
• Botswana $ 16 000
• South Africa $ 13 000
• Nigeria $ 6 000Kenya $ 3 000
• Zimbabwe $ 2 000
• Dem. Rep ofCongo $ 700

Some South American Countries:

• Argentina $ 22 000
• Mexico $ 18 000
• Brazil $ 16 000
• Peru $ 12 000
• El Salvador $ 8 000

Asia:

• Malaysia $ 25 000
• Thailand $ 14 000
• China $ 13 000
• Indonesia $ 11 000
• India $ 6 000

With the growth and availability of the internet and worldwide broadcasts, there is an increasing awareness in the third world of the apparent wealth in the first world.

The second is the massive and ongoing population growth, mainly in the third world.

Suffice to say that the UN predicts the world's population will grow from seven billion today to about nine billion by 2050, i.e. a growth of some two billion, almost all of which will come from African, Asian and South American countries, some of whom are mentioned above.

What has caused this growth? Mainly access to Western Medicine.

In many cultures, particularly in Africa, parts of Asia and South America there is a tradition for families to have as many children as possible. This is partly because of previously high infant mortality rates and the need for people to have children to support them in old age. Much of this need has disappeared but the practice continues.

Many people were surprised and delighted with Pope Francis' pronouncements on Climate Change. What is clearly missing from this encyclical is the place that population growth has played and will continue to play in influencing warming world temperatures. World population has grown from about 2 billion before the Second World War to 7 billion today- nobody can continue to pretend that this trend will not have had a significant effect on greenhouse gas emissions and therefore increasing world temperatures.

Some might say that the plight the third world finds itself in is entirely their fault and point to corruption, vicious self-serving dictators and very poor governance as being a primary cause of the problem. There is some validity in this argument, but as far as the developed world is concerned if we just continue to say the problem has nothing to do with us and wish the problem would go away, we are headed for a very nasty fall.