The Philippines would be hard put in achieving its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, United Nations (UN) officials said on Wednesday.

In their dire assessment of the ability of the Arroyo regime to meet MDGs, the UN officials stressed the Philippines would lag behind in its campaign to reduce poverty levels in six years.

Natural and man-made disasters have conspired to make matters worse for the country.

MDGs are eight time-bound goals aimed at significantly reducing, if not completely eradicating, extreme poverty by 2015.

Of these goals, the Philippines lags behind its targets on eliminating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, reducing maternal deaths, and combating HIV and AIDS.

"More than one-third of the population are still living on less than one dollar a day, over five million children are not in school, 93 newborn babies and 11 mothers are dying everyday, HIV and AIDS cases are growing, with the youth increasingly becoming more vulnerable, and environmental resources are depleting," said UN Population Fund Representative and UN Advocacy Group chairperson Suneeta Mukherjee in Wednesday's press briefing for the "2009 Stand Up Against Poverty Campaign," which adopted the local theme "Stand United, Fight Poverty."