Anti-Poverty Summit Raises $16 Billion: UN Chief

On Thursday at the close of a one-day summit called to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced, "We have full commitment from many countries in pledges to help the world's poor, around the $16 billion mark. This is exactly the kind of broad, global coalition we need to reach all of our [MDGs]." The commitments announced fall under four categories: malaria control, education, health, and food security. Adopted by world leaders in 2000, the MDGs set 2015 as the target date for accomplishing eight objectives: eradicating extreme hunger and poverty; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality; reducing child mortality; improving maternal health; combating diseases including HIV/AIDS; ensuring environmental sustainability; and creating global development partnerships. Ban warned that the current global financial crisis "threatens the well-being of billions of people, none more so than the poorest of the poor."

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