Annan urges concrete actions to end poverty

UNITED NATIONS, Tuesday (Xinhua) UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty with calls for concrete actions by world governments to fight poverty and hunger.

"Poverty devastates families, communications and nations. It causes instability and political unrest and fuels conflict," Annan said in a message to mark the global anti-poverty day, which falls on Oct. 17 each year. Annan said that in September, world leaders once again unanimously endorsed the millennium development goals, which including halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

At the September world summit, developed countries agreed to support developing country in reducing poverty through increased development assistance, debt relief and fair trade, he said. "Those commitments represent a breakthrough in the fight against poverty - promises that we must all work to ensure are translated into concrete actions, especially for the world's poorest people," Annan stressed.

UN figures show that some 800 million people worldwide are chronically hungry and malnourished and every day, 30,000 children die due to causes directly related to poverty.