Keep the promise.

In September 2000, all 191 United Nations Member states pledge to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Once met, the lives of billions of people will be saved and/or improved. Five years later, progress has been made, but we still have a long way to go to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Here are the goals and here's how you can help"

Millennium Development Goals:

* "Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger: Halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and who suffer from hunger." End poverty.

* "Achieve universal primary education: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling." Each one, teach one.

* "Promote gender equality and empower women: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015." Cherish women.

* "Reduce child mortality: Reduced by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five. Cherish youth.

* "Improve maternal health: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio." Improve health care.

* "Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases: Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria and other major diseases." Close the 10/90 gap.

* "Ensure environmental sustainability: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources. Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020." Insist on environmental justice.

* "Develop a global partnership for development: Implement an open, rule-based trading and financial system, more generous aid to countries committed to poverty reduction, and relief for the debt problems of developing countries." Insist on economic justice.

Do a search for "Millennium Development Goals" for more information, and help make our world a better place. Keep the promise.

Just a note, I won't be blogging for the next few weeks. So please peruse the archives in my absence. There's plenty you can do to keep busy while I'm away.

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost." - Arthur Ashe