Our traditions and social protection networks have cushioned Samoa from the impact of poverty, a senior United Nations (UN) official said. Minar Pimple, Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific on the UN Millennium Campaign, said while poverty affects all countries, it’s not that bad in Samoa. “I don’t see malnutrition in Samoa,” he said.

17, February, Manila – Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in an Era of Global Uncertainty: Asia-Pacific Regional Report 2009/10, estimates that the global economic crisis could trap an additional 21 million people on incomes of less than $1.25 a day.

In Bangladesh, government officials, professors and anti-poverty campaigners recently demanded a National Sharing Meeting on the progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The officials also presented a shadow report on December 9 in an event organized by SUPRO, a national network of grass roots organizations, at the Press Club in Dhaka.

Twenty-five-year- old Katuri Kodanda Pani from the village of Ipurupalem in Andhra Pradesh who is preparing for the civil service exams, won the first prize in the nation-wide contest, titled Mera India Bridge the Gap. The contest asked young people in the 18 to 35 year age group to think of ideas, which could help India, meet its commitment on millennium development goals (MDGs).

For the second year in a row, the Philippines sent the loudest voice worldwide in calling for an end to extreme poverty, with 36.1 million Filipinos participating in various events during the three-day global Stand Up, Take Action Against Poverty campaign of the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) last Oct. 16 to 18.