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World hunger - One of the biggest world problems today is hunger. According to a study released by WHO, famine affected 11% of the world population in 2016.

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World hunger - Of this 11%, the worst affected regions in the world are Asia (11.7%), Africa (20%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (6.6%).

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Malnutrition - Another important social question is malnutrition. WHO released revealing figures about this in the same study.

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Malnutrition - The results showed that approximately 155 million children under the age of five suffer from restricted growth, or are underdeveloped for their age.

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Malnutrition - Among children under the age of five, about 52 million are underweight.

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Childhood obesity - But there are also figures that estimate 41 million children under the age of five to be overweight and obese.

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Adult obesity - Obesity in adults is also a world problem. Roughly 13% of adults across the planet are overweight, which is equivalent to about 641 million people.

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Anemia - Another problem is anemia, which affects 613 million women of reproductive age.

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How can you help? - WHO offers various volunteer work schemes across several countries, and also virtual work.

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Illiteracy - According to information from UNESCO, there are 750 million illiterate adults in the world. The majority of these are women.

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How can you help? - UNESCO also offers opportunities for volunteers to contribute to education programs.

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AIDS - The world's largest organizations have been involved in the fight to stop the spread of AIDS for years. According to a report released in 2017 by UNAIDS, there are around 21 million people being treated for the disease.

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How can you help? - UNAIDS has a portal that promotes the various campaigns they are making and also takes donations for treatment and preventative action.

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Childhood deaths - Children are the future of humanity, and so reducing the number of childhood deaths is a worldwide social problem.

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Preventing diseases - As well as ensuring that children have adequate food and nutrition, the prevention of diseases is vital, especially in poorer regions, which tend to have sanitation problems.

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How can you help? - If you want to help support this cause, UNICEF rolls out vaccination campaigns for children across the world.

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Health - Good health is a precarious matter in many regions of the world, especially poorer ones.

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Disaster - Many countries across the world are ravaged by wars, conflict, or natural disasters, which means they face extreme health crises.

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How can you help? - To help patients in desperate situations, you can support the worldwide organization Médicines Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

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Refugees - Streams of families fleeing from war-torn countries are caught in terrible struggles as they search for a better life, stable conditions, and a safe environment in which to bring up their children.

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Refugees - Being a refugee involves not only dangerous journeys across borders and tricky terrain, but also relying on risky transport to cross oceans, as well as finding enough food to eat, and safe places to sleep.

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How can you help? - WHO created a special agency that works with refugees, should you want to support their struggles.

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Addiction - Addicts are another group of people that need constant support. They can suffer dependencies on alcohol, nicotine, drugs, and other harmful substances.

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How can you help? - Institution such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous work with individuals suffering from these types of addiction.

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Solidarity as a way of life - There are many ways we can help support others in the world, and this can start from making simple changes in our daily lives. You can start by giving your seat on public transport to someone who needs it more, or help someone with a physical disability to perform a task.

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Support: emotional - If you know someone who is unemployed, how about seeing if that person needs support? Sometimes people who are having a tough time just need a few supportive words to know that they are not alone, or someone to confide in.

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Support: respect - Report cases of racial or gender prejudice, and domestic violence. Remember that everyone, regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, or gender deserves respect.

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Support: giving blood - If you want to go beyond just giving money and personal support, how about giving blood? If you fill the right requirements, you could be saving someone's life.

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Support: donating clothes - A simple way of helping others, while also de-cluttering your life, is to donate your old clothes to charity. They could help people who need clothes but cannot afford them.

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Support: where to help? - These are the top NGOs from your country, and from around the world. Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Canada: The Globe and Mail.
New Zealand: index NZ.
South Africa: African Advice. UK: Best Companies.
US: Transparent Hands.

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Solidarity - How about looking up solidarity work which you could do in your local community? Even a small act can greatly help the people who need support the most.

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