End World Poverty...

A few years ago my sister read the book by economist Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. After reading it myself, we started to discuss the possibilities of becoming involved with the Millennium Project, initially headed by Jeffrey Sachs.

The Millennim Project was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002 to recommend a concrete action plan for the world to reverse the poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people. It has an incredible action plan of developmental goals set in place. As Sachs points out in his book, more than a billion people currently subsist on less than a dollar a day—the standard threshold for “extreme poverty.” Every year, hundreds of thousands die of starvation, malnutrition, or diseases like aids and malaria; tens of millions of children perish in infancy. And as the this persists it's suggested that the consequences of this extreme poverty reach far beyond the afflicted societies. 'Poverty, inequality and disease are chief causes of violent conflict, civil war and state failures. A world with extreme poverty is a world of insecurity.'

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000 the largest gathering of world leaders in history adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline of 2015, that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals...8 goals from eradicating extreme hunger to improving maternal health to ensuring environmental sustainability.

Our efforts continue. To get involved personally or with local affiliated programs, visit the Millennium Promise Organization, village by village, we can each help to fight poverty.