World leaders to discuss global poverty fight

(News Today) - World leaders convene in New York on Monday for a United Nations summit on global goals to fight poverty, hunger and disease.

They will discuss the Millennium Development Goals they signed up for a decade ago, including halving extreme poverty by 2015.

"The summit will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the goals," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

The meeting to discuss Millennium Development Goals is a major agenda item in a week that will include high-level discussions among international leaders as the United Nations General Assembly debate begins Thursday.

United Nations officials are urging leaders to use the meetings as an opportunity to ratify dozens of international treaties ranging from protecting human rights to fighting terrorism to preserving biodiversity, a statement released by the organization said.

Last year, 64 countries took 103 treaty actions, the highest participation in four years, according to the UN.

Source : CNN

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