http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jCYAn05cfGu-HC0I_4Ux7jvp_zywUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a 40-billion-dollar Wednesday drive to improve the health of women and children, which he said would save millions of lives around the world. Governments, philanthropists and private groups pledged the cash, giving a spectacular end to the UN summit on eliminating poverty, a campaign that has been badly battered by the international financial crisis.
The goals set target of cutting by two thirds the number of children who die before they are five, and reducing the number of women who die during childbirth by three quarters.
From 1990 to 2008 the number of child deaths fell by 28 percent, but there are still almost nine million deaths a year.
The Millennium goals also included cutting the number of people who survive on less than one dollar a day by half, halve the number of people who suffer from hunger, halt the spread of AIDS and other killer diseases, achieve universal primary education and empower women.