A grim picture.

All over the world, children are in serious trouble. That is the message of The State of the World's Children 2005, a report issued last December by UNICEF--the United Nations Children's Fund. More than half of the world's estimated 2.2 billion children are suffering from the effects of poverty, HIV/AIDS, or war.

Worldwide, 640 million children have inadequate shelter. About 120 million--mostly girls--cannot attend school. In one year alone (2003), about 15 million children lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Conditions are most dire in developing countries. There, one out of every five children lacks safe drinking water. One out of every six is starving. And one out of every seven has no access to health care.

Children in developed countries generally fare better. Even there, however, the report suggests cause for worry. In 11 of 15 developed countries, the proportion of children living in poverty has increased over the past decade. In the United States, conditions have improved somewhat, but 21.9 percent of children still live in poverty. (That percentage is higher than in any developed country of Europe.)

But, says the report, conditions for kids worldwide could be improved significantly if national governments changed their priorities. Worldwide, nations spend $956 billion a year on the military. By contrast, it would take just $40 billion to $70 billion a year to effectively reduce poverty and make other real improvements in the lives of the world's children--and their parents.