Beijing, October 18 : United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called upon the countries across the world to refocus attention and resources on the places and people that are being left behind in the efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of poverty eradication.

Ban said that the global scorecard towards this goal is mixed.

“The proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day has fallen, and we remain on track to meet the MDG target of halving extreme poverty. But progress has been uneven, and some regions -- particularly sub-Saharan Africa -- are not on track to redeem even a single one of our grand promises,” Ban said in his message on “The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty” at the conference "Taking Action for the World's Poor and Hungry People."

“Today, the world must refocus its attention, and its resources, on the places and people that are being left behind,” he added.

He said, while this year, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty falls just after the midpoint in the race to reach the Millennium Development Goals -- by the target date of 2015, “it provides an important opportunity to take stock of our progress, and to re-energise our efforts.”

“We have to view people living in poverty as agents of change. This requires us to encourage national ownership of development strategies. It requires citizens to actively participate in policy-making, and Governments to become more accountable to their citizens in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Goals,” he said.

“Above all, it requires a true partnership for development -- one in which rich countries do their part in delivering resources and productive employment opportunities through market access, so as to enable the poor to take control of their lives,” Ban added.

The conference, which takes place October 17-19 in Beijing, was organised by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the Chinese State Council Leading Group Office on Poverty Alleviation. (ANI)