New Site Tracks World Poverty

The UN has teamed with Google and Cisco for the MDG Monitor Project, allowing users to see progress in the fight to eradicate poverty.

Seven years ago, 189 countries came together under the auspices of the UN with the aim of making giant steps toward eight benchmarks called the Millennium Development Goals, including eradicating poverty, hunger, AIDS and other inequalities in the world by 2015.   But beyond reports, there was little way of tracking progress. Until now.   Last week the UN announced that it had teamed with Google and Cisco on the MDG Monitor site, which allows users to track the progress of the initiatives, and also to highlight the problems faced in many areas of the globe.   Surfer use Google Earth to go anywhere on the planet and explore from above, in three dimensions, the places where work is being done to realize the MDGs. Users can also access country assessments and data collected by the UN worldwide.This information will soon appear as a Global Awareness layer in Google Earth. Cisco provided  consultancy as well as technical and financial support for the site’s development.   "Achieving the Goals is a truly global task, requiring Governments, international organizations, private companies and civil society to work together," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "I thank Google and Cisco for helping us create the MDG Monitor – an example of the kind of innovative partnerships we need."