Government Corruption and Violence Hinder Goals to End Global Poverty

A new status report on the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals found that despite unprecedented progress in the past 13 years, eradicating poverty worldwide by 2015 would require new efforts to end government corruption and violent conflict, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The goals were set at a summit in 2000 to end world poverty by 2015. In outlining new goals for the year 2030, the new report stated that the effects of war, climate change, and corruption, as well as unemployment and human-right abuses, had not received adequate attention.

Of the eight original Millennial Development Goals, one has been achieved: global parity between boys and girls in access to schools and safe drinking water, though a U.N. official said that some of the data can be misleading.

Among the original goals: ending poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, combating HIV/AIDS, reducing child mortality rates, and improving maternal health.