Read the text and define its main idea. Find evidence to prove your decision

Many developing nations experience severe and widespread poverty, which often leads to disease epidemics, starvation, and deaths. In the past few decades, millions of people have starved and died as a result of (1) ___ in such countries as Bangladesh, Ethiopia, North Korea, Somalia, and Sudan.

Poverty (2) _____ affects women, children and elderly, and people with disabilities. In many developing nations, women have low social status and are restricted in their access to both education and (3) ____work. Without adequate income, they commonly depend on men for support, but often get little. In some developing countries, including in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, poor women seeking to work or immigrate to other countries are tricked and sold into prostitution or indentured (4) _____. They receive little or no pay, and are forced to stay to pay off debts (5) ____ through their immigration. Many women end up in sweatshops – illegal factories, usually for making clothes, that have poor working conditions and long hours. Asian countries such as China, India, Korea and Thailand have been widely accused of permitting or encouraging poor families to kill their female babies, a practice known as female (6) _____. These countries are overpopulated, and their cultures promote the belief that men contribute more to economies and bring more wealth to their families than do women. People who do not work – such as young children, elderly, and people with disabilities – depend on families and other support networks for basic necessities. However, neither poor families nor the governments of many developing countries can adequately support the non-working. Poor children in particular suffer the consequences. Children have underdeveloped immune systems, and they easily acquire diseases in unsanitary living conditions. Thus the poorest countries have high rates of child (7) ______ and mortality. Children also have very low social status, and often suffer from parental (8) ________ and abuse because they are not considered important. Like women in many developing countries, children may be (9) _____ as prostitutes or as workers for little or no pay.

Throughout the developing world, ethnic and racial minorities experience prejudice from majority groups and have difficulty attaining an average standard of living. For example, under the system of apartheid, (10) _____ in South Africa from 1948 to 1993, the government systematically denied rights, fair treatment, and educational and employment opportunities to nonwhites, leaving them in massive poverty. Migrants and refugees, who have left their native land and settled elsewhere, also experience high degrees of poverty. Migrants commonly lose the immediate economic support of their families and enter into societies in which they may have difficulty finding good work, especially if they do not speak the language.