This is the VOA Special English Development Report.
The United Nations Development Program recently observed theInternational Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The goal was toimprove living conditions for the more than one-thousand-millionpoor people around the world who live on less than one dollar a day.
More than fifty nations held special events. For example, sportsevents were held in Togo. In Vietnam, there was a group discussionabout poverty and violence in the home.
The U-N Development Program also honored six individuals who haveworked throughout their lives to fight poverty in their communities.One of those honored was Edi Rama, the mayor of Tirana, Albania. Hehelped launch an environmental program to clean up the Lana River.The program is called Clean and Green. It has also helped reduce thenumber of unemployed people in the Albanian capital.
Maqsood Sinha (Maq-SHOOD SIN-ha) and Iftekhar Enayetullah(IF-Te-Car Eh-NIGH-a-to-la) were also honored. These two men haveformed a non-governmental organization in Bangladesh called WasteConcern. It helps communities turn organic waste into fertilizerusing a simple technology.
Grace Dotou (Gras DOO-too) was honored for her work in Benin. Shehas trained unemployed girls and women to collect used plastic bagsand make useful products from them. The fifth person honored by theU-N Development Program is from Chile. Pablo Sandor started anorganization that helps communities develop businesses while stillprotecting the land. He also has established an environmental highschool and a research center. The sixth person honored was ArefKodeih (AR-ef Ko-DAY). He has launched several environmentalprograms in Lebanon that have helped more than four-hundred-thousandpeople.
The U-N Development Program also gave a special award to the headof MAC cosmetics company. John Demsey was honored for his work inthe fight against the disease AIDS. He has given all the profitsfrom one of his company’s products to a special AIDS program.
The U-N Development Program hopes to end poverty around the worldby two-thousand-fifteen. However, U-N Secretary General Kofi Annansays this could be especially difficult in parts of the Middle East,Africa and Latin America. The number of people living in poverty inthose areas has increased over the past three years.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by JillMoss.