Ten years ago, 189 countries agreed to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) designed to create a more equal, better life for all. Among the aims was to halve extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 and to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under 5.

In fall 2010, the United Nations will hold a summit in New York to discuss the current situation. Only five years remain to reach the Millennium Goal targets, and there are reported fears that much has yet to be done. Progress is said to be "mixed," especially in regards to the status of global poverty.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called for the summit in September, said: "It will be a crucially important opportunity to redouble our efforts to meet the goals. Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs. Our challenge is to agree on an action agenda."

Is it really possible that global poverty can be cut by half in such a relatively short time? Is child poverty a challenge that can be solved in our lifetime?

And so it goes on. Disease and death stalk our poorest countries. Can the political leaders make a difference? Ban Ki-moon hopes so. "We must not fail the billions who look to the international community to fulfill the promise of the Millennium Declaration for a better world," he said recently. "Let us meet in September to keep the promise."

We must pray that those promises hold.

But as global leaders come and go, charities worldwide continue their tireless work. Many have been involved in combating poverty and hunger for decades. The most respected charities are also dedicated to achieving long-term solutions. A "quick fix" of food aid has no lasting value. What does bring results is a campaign to alter the lives of the poor forever. One respected Christian charity, which currently works in 26 of the world’s poorest countries, helps children through sponsorship programs.

Sponsorship programs are simplicity itself. The sponsors are generous people who send a small, fixed sum to benefit a child in poverty every month. The sponsored child is then provided with educational opportunities, food assistance, clean water, shelter and health care. Through sponsorship, the child has the opportunity to escape the poverty trap. He or she has the chance to learn skills and pass examinations. Many sponsored children become doctors or teachers and are able to make a real difference in their communities.

They also, through their Christian mentors, learn to hope and trust in God and in the power of His love.

The world leaders will review global poverty targets in New York this fall. Meanwhile, each of us can do something to relieve misery and deprivation. Whether child poverty will end in our lifetime is impossible to foretell. But we can all play a part in trying to achieve just that.