Thank you for the opportunity.
In terms of the resources that were allocated through the federal government, in Nunavut we were very quick to determine how we would allocate those funds across the vast territory. As you know, Nunavut makes up one-fifth of the geography of Canada. The Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. board members have been having daily calls to determine how best to allocate that money, and much of that money has already been allocated to provide financial support to elders so they can purchase food items, as well as cleaning supplies.
We have provided a substantial amount of resources to municipalities so they can ensure that there is water and sewer delivery on a daily basis. Particularly when there's the public messaging about washing hands, we think it's crucially important in overcrowded housing situations in Nunavut, which is very common and we know in this day and age we need at least 3,000 houses just to meet the current housing needs across our territory. The common mentality is to conserve water usage, and we don't want that in a time when we're having a global pandemic.
The other area we've put some resources into is to address food insecurity. In Nunavut, it's astounding that already seven out of 10 children go to bed hungry each night, and instead of their getting better, we know the statistics recently released have indicated that it is now actually eight out of 10 children that go to bed hungry each night. We know with the experience we have had with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, both overcrowded housing circumstances and food insecurity have a big impact on how one is able to fight off infectious diseases.
While the approach we've been taking is very much focused on meeting the basic needs that, in our view, should be met even before we find ourselves in a global pandemic, the opportunity for us in this global pandemic has been that we've been able to have very open communication and decision-making amongst Inuit organizations and all government levels, including the territorial public government here in Nunavut, as well as the federal government.
Our position at Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is that the federal government should invoke the Emergencies Act in Nunavut, because in our view, although we don't have a confirmed COVID-19 case yet, we know that our capacity financially and in terms of human resources is not what it needs to be in our territorial public government, and that has been crucial, even before COVID-19.
We need to look at, and the very terrifying public healthy crisis we are all under right now is an opportunity to highlight, the great needs that so many Canadians live under. This is an opportunity for you as members of Parliament to take a better look at the social inequities that Canadians face. Of course, I am advocating for Nunavummiut to say, please take a look at the social inequities faced by Nunavut Inuit.