The New Nation - Internet Edition

ACCORDING to a news report from the United Nations, world leaders recommitted themselves to reducing global poverty, pledging an estimated $16 billion in aid. While some of the money had been previously announced, there were 'new commitments' for malaria, education, including $168 million by Microsoft founder Bill Gates for research to develop malaria vaccines. The UN secretary general said, if verified, the $16 billion figure would be all the more remarkable because it comes against the backdrop of financial crisis.

Governments, the private sector and development agencies sought to assess progress of universally agreed 'Millennium Development Goals' to halve global poverty by 2015 and identify next steps. The last few days have re-injected momentum which must sweep on, collecting more support as it swells, activist rock star Bono remarked adding even in these tough times, this historic promise has never been more important to keep. The global food crisis is far from over as update figures show 75 million more people now faced hunger, lifting the total figure to well above 900 million.

The current financial crisis threatens the well-being of billions of people, none more so than the poorest of the poor and this compounds the damage being caused by much higher prices for food and fuel. There has been progress in developing countries in Asia and Latin America, the United Nations has mentioned and not a single African country is on track to reach all of the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals. The fight against poverty can be won if rich countries provide some $72 billion a year as remarked by the UN secretary general. The World Bank president is rather worried the financial crisis could quickly spread to developing nations, already reeling from higher food and fuel prices.