Bradford, and the entire United Kingdom, enjoy a variety of privileges that we take for granted, but for some of the poorest countries in the world, basic sanitation, health care and education are scarce.

In many parts of the world a tap like this is "a distant dream"

The ability to turn on a tap and receive safe, clean water is to us a task so easily done, without a thought that for many this is a distant dream. In the urban areas of Rwanda in Africa, only 12% of the population have access to safe water and sanitation. In rural areas this percentage decreases further.

Students all over the country are breathing a sigh of relief as exams come to an end, but many are unaware at just how lucky they are to be living in a country in which they can sit them at all. The gross tertiary school enrolment in Rwanda from 1996-99 was just 1% compared to 58% in the United Kingdom.

Health care is another privilege that many poor countries are in desperate need of. A child in Africa dies every three seconds of malaria, TB, and other diseases that can be cured or prevented by drugs sold in our pharmacies, and in Rwanda alone, 260,000 children have been orphaned by the Aids virus since 2001, contributing to a total of 11 million children that have been orphaned by Aids in Africa.

These horrifying statistics show why so many people are trying to make a difference, but the people dying in places like Africa are not just numbers but they are mothers, daughters, fathers and sons, people who leave grieving families behind.

A Red Cross worker helps a mother and child in Rwanda

We not only owe these people our help and support for simple moral and humanitarian justice but because the United Kingdom as a country has used, abused and exploited third world countries for too many generations. We owe them our help because our country helped create the dire situation that these countries face today.

The leaders who met at the G8 conference have the ability to end this desperate situation. When the world has stood together to support one cause, they cannot let poverty persist, as to do so would be a crime against humanity.

The statistics included in this article have been taken from the World Resources Institute Earth Trends portal.

This article is user-generated content (i.e. external contribution) expressing a personal opinion, not the views of the BBC West Yorkshire website.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.