UNITED NATIONS (AP) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced $2.5 billion in new commitments to meet United Nations goals ranging from cutting extreme poverty by half to ensuring universal primary school education for all children by the end of 2015.
He said prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goals differ sharply within countries and regions because of "large inequalities," noting that more than 1 billion people still live on $1.25 per day or less.
Ban told a ministerial meeting Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly that the new financial commitments came from governments, the World Bank, private business and philanthropy.
World leaders renewed their commitment at the meeting "to intensify all efforts" to achieve the goals, which also include reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, improving sanitation and reducing maternal and child deaths.
