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The United Nations teamed with technology giants Google Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. to launch a new website that will provide data and a bird's eye view of global efforts to fight poverty and meet (1) U.N. development goals by 2015.
On one portion of the new site, a Web surfer can also use (2) Google Earth's map and satellite imagery to fly anywhere on the planet and "explore" the places where work is being done to achieve the goals.
"They can see successes and celebrate those, and observe failures or shortfalls ... and redouble their country's commitment to pursue those efforts. So it's very exciting for us," said Michael Jones, chief technologist for Google Earth and Maps.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the launch "crucial" because it makes all information on the U.N. goals available in one place for the first time "for all who seek it, with a few simple clicks of the mouse."
Ban lamented that midway between the goals' adoption in 2000 and the target completion date of 2015 almost 1 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; millions of children die every year before their fifth birthdays from causes associated with malnutrition; infectious diseases including AIDS and malaria take "their worst toll on countries that can least afford it" and millions of people live in slums.
The new website is one of those tools because it will enable policymakers and development experts to learn from one another's successes and setbacks, and it will increase public access and attention to the U.N. goals, Ban said.
The U.N. Development Program, which is facilitating the new website, said the budget for the project was $200,000, and it received $150,000 from corporate donors. ■AP
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