Too many people worldwide are living in substandard conditions. Half the world’s population is living on less than two dollars a day. From a moral and humanitarian standpoint, this is utterly unacceptable. Yet most of us are indifferent and complacent. We stand by as millions die each year, just because they are too poor to stay alive. Our policy leaders’ inattention and neglect lull us into believing that there is nothing more we can do.

Insufficient education is one of the main reasons for the suffering in the developing world. This can trap people for generations in a cycle of poverty. Most of the nearly two billion children in the developing world do not finish school. One-third of these children do not complete fifth grade, and many have no schooling at all.

No country has ever reached sustained economic growth without coming close to universal primary education for boys and girls. No other investment has so much potential to lift communities out of poverty.

Education for adults is even more inadequate. Millions of adults need training in health care, agriculture and sanitation, as well as knowledge about the basic services and infrastructure needed in rural communities. However, they lack access to schools, qualified teachers and/or trainers. Even when there are teachers, they often lack lessons and curriculum for critical topics like reproductive health and family planning. One result of this particular education void in many developing countries is the continued spread of sexually-transmitted disease and illness and an alarming death rate of adult populations. Because of this, many children become orphans. Countless more children die from lack of health services and education.

The information age has not arrived on a global scale. The Internet revolution has yet to reach billions of the world’s poor. Most of these lack access to computers and live far away from the Internet. Many are illiterate and cannot understand even a simple Web page.

Yet, there is hope for the poor.

The information revolution can indeed reach the barely reachable. It can change their lives. For those trapped in poverty, the most valuable data on the Internet may not be Web pages, but rather sounds and images, because audio-visual files can educate even the illiterate.