United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon disclosed that global poverty is expected to decline by 15 percent in 2015, citing that the most significant decrease in poverty has been noted in Asia.

Ban launched the 2010 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report in New York, USA, noting that there had been progress in meeting the MDGs by 2015.

“As the report shows, despite the financial crisis, the food crisis, the fuel crisis, the world is still making progress on reducing poverty, albeit more slowly,” Ban said.

He said that while Asia leads in reducing poverty, progress could also be noted in sub-Saharan Africa for access to primary education, and Latin America and the Caribbean for progress on child health and gender equality.

The UN Secretary General however said that progress is still “uneven,” adding that there are still 920 million people living below the international poverty level. He also said that incidence of hunger and malnutrition is on the rise in South Asia while “stubborn gaps” persist between rich and poor, between rural and urban, and between males and females.