UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are achievable by its deadline of 2015. Opening a three-day high-level meeting of MDGs, he called on world leaders to exercise political leadership and keep their promise to translate the eight MDGs targets into reality. The meeting of about 140 world leaders kicked off at the United Nations to review the status of the anti-poverty targets-the gaps and gains in the world efforts to reach the MDGs targets. The MDGs, endorsed by world leaders in September 2000, set out eight targets which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015. Ban called on the international community to stay true to its commitment to end the dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty. Despite fiscal challenges, he urged countries to look towards success stories in meeting the MDGs.