The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland has called for renewed commitment to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), aimed at halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women across the developing world by 2015.

World leaders called for action as the current steps made around the world are not nearly enough to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, the singer and activist Bono and the multimillionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates are some of the personalities sounding the alarm:

Those goals fixed a 2015 deadline to tackle extreme poverty and improve access to education and healthcare. "Too many nations have fallen behind. We need fresh ideas and fresh approaches. It is unacceptable that one child dies of hunger every day, every five seconds," Ban told a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Brown said Britain will host a meeting in May of private sector companies to discuss what they could contribute to meeting the millennium goals and tackling what he described as a poverty and development emergency.

"This is a unique call to action, never made before, to all private sector companies, all NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as well as all governments," Brown said. He said the issue would also be on the agenda of European Union leaders at a meeting in June and at the G8 meeting of major industrialized powers in Japan the next month. "We have promised that infant mortality will be cut by three quarters by 2015.On present trends we will not make that happen until at least 2050," Brown said.

"We have promised that every child will be in schooling by 2015, but ... on present trends we will not achieve that before 2115 and the children of the world cannot wait another century.

" Bono, a veteran campaigner for the world's poor, said the world was facing a moment of truth. "Where another generation put a man on the moon, we can't put every kid in school," he said. "Where another generation fought fascism and injustice and prevailed, we fail in our fight against the anopheles mosquito which kills 3,000 people a day," he said, referring to malaria deaths.

One of the drivers of the initiative, outgoing Microsoft boss Bill Gates, said it was important to get business on board, because companies knew about benchmarks and how to deliver them. Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, a perennial Davos participant, says corporations have a large role to play in eliminating poverty. His foundation announced a $300 million grant to assist small farmers in developing countries. Gates applauded the forum's call for action, saying it is important to have a report card on the progress made since world leaders signed on to the goals in 2000. "We are drawing in more people," he said. "We can make more progress. And it is important to be part of this endeavor. It is the most important work in the world."