Behind the well documented hunger crisis in some parts of Africa, there is a different reality which is much less reported: two thirds of countries in the developing world are well on their way towards a crucial victory in fighting poverty.
According to a new report by the World Bank two thirds of all developing countries will reach the so called UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to half extreme poverty by the year 2015. The MDGs are tangible targets set by the UN in the fight against world poverty.
Obviously a country like Somalia is not one of them, but in those developing countries where there is a well functioning state, peace and growth, considerable progress is taking place.
The number of children under five years of age dying each year declined from more than 12 million in 1990 to 7.6 million in 2010, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization. These new figures show that compared to 1990, around 12,000 more children’s lives are saved each day. 
Dali Chilachava and her family fled their home village in Abkhazia, Georgia, after separatist conflict broke out in the region in 1993. For 12 years they endured extreme poverty, until a microfinance programme helped them to start a small business growing and selling lilies.
Until recently the Mokgatlhe family in Kgope, a remote village situated 50 kilometres west of Botswana’s capital, had been using firewood to light and heat their home. 
The United Nations in Brussels published in September a new report on the partnership of the UN and the European Union. Antonio Vigilante, the director of the United Nations Brussels Office explains why the UN-EU partnership is a source of good news:
