Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - At least one of the eight Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) should be achieved by Brazil by 2015. The country has already accomplished 78% of the goal that determines halving the percentage of the population that subsisted in extreme poverty in 2000. This observation is contained in the report, Millenium Development Goals: A Look at Latin America and the Caribbean, prepared by 12 United Nations (UN) agencies under the coordination of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and released yesterday (16) in Brazil.

According to the report, the percentage of the Brazilian population living below the line of extreme poverty fell from 23.4% in 1990 to 14.2% in 2004. The document mentions the social programs, School Grant and Family Grant, as responsible for some of this progress.

"I am convinced that by 2015 we shall conquer the number one goal, the erradication of hunger and extreme poverty," affirms the Minister of Social Development and Hunger Alleviation, Patrus Ananias. He reports that research on the Family Grant shows that 80% of the money that is transferred is spent on food. For the Minister, the challenge now is to integrate the families that receive these benefits in programs to generate jobs and income.

The MDGs were adopted in 2000 by the governments of 189 countries, including Brazil, as a commitment to reduce inequality and improve human development around the world. The eight goals that should be fulfilled by 2015 are: the elimination of hunger and extreme poverty; quality basic education for all; gender equality and protection of women's rights; reduction of infant mortality; improved health care for pregnant women; actions to combat Aids, malaria, and other diseases; environmental sustainability; and a global partnership for development.

Translation: David Silberstein