New York  - Major charity foundations, government leaders and politicians of all stripes joined forces on Thursday to push for progress in ending poverty, hunger and fighting diseases, and warned that a massive financial crisis could not detract from those efforts.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the one-day session to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of ambitious UN targets on slashing extreme poverty, improving health and education across the developing world.

New York  - Governments and private-sector groups announced Thursday pledges of 4.5 billion dollars to bring 15 million children to school over the next three years, dubbing the programme "Class of 2015: Education for All."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown led the campaign that included a line up of supportive governments, faith groups, non-governmental organizations and education advocates.

New York  - Major charity foundations, government leaders and politicians of all stripes joined forces on Thursday to push for progress in ending poverty and hunger and fighting diseases that continue to kill thousands of people each year.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon launched the one-day session on reviewing progress achieved so far on implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). He warned that a financial crisis sweeping across advanced economies would actually have its greatest effect on the poor.

New York  - The UN Security Council on Wednesday renewed the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in Chad, which has been monitoring that country's border with the Central African Republic.

The council adopted a resolution extending the mandate while it considers forming a new peacekeeping operation to replace military forces from the European Union, which was dispatched to the region to help refugees and maintain security.

New York  - The so-called green economy is booming across the globe and the market for environmental products and services is likely to double by 2020, according to a UN study released Wednesday.

Efforts to combat climate change have already created millions of new "green jobs" and opened up fresh sectors for economic growth as countries around the world invest in new technologies. UN officials urged governments to keep going despite a global economic crisis.

Cairo  - The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said Wednesday that 2007 was a record year for the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) but warned against a drop by at least 10 per cent in 2008.

In its World Investment Report 2008, released Wednesday in Cairo, the UN agency said that crisis in world financial markets and the economic slowdown will lead to the decline of FDI flows in 2008, after last year's 30-per-cent surge.