MILLENNIUM PROMISE ALLIANCE INC

Millennium Promise is the leading international nonprofit organization solely committed to accelerating the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.Through our flagship initiative the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), Millennium Promise applies an integrated approach to sustainable development. Reaching more than 500,000 people in rural villages across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Project is a partnership among Millennium Promise, the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and the UNDP.The MVP approach helps communities break the cycle of extreme poverty by supporting a coordinated roll-out of community-led activities across six sectors: agriculture, business development, education, gender equality, health, and infrastructure. Data from the first three years of the Project show remarkable results, including a 3x increase in average maize yields supporting a 30% reduction in chronic malnutrition among children under the age of 2, and 60% decrease in malaria rates due in part to a 7x increase in the use of bed nets. Successes like these underscore that the Goals are practical, measurable, accessible, and achievable. Sustaining early accomplishments and ensuring that MVP communities continue to move toward self-sufficiency are Millennium Promise's two main priorities through 2015. To achieve these goals, our strategy is to facilitate business development initiatives while continuing to support critical social infrastructure in the villages. To fulfill these objectives, we are mobilizing a growing alliance of public, private, and nonprofit partners who share our commitment to sustainable development and the scaling up of effective ideas. Through these partnerships, we are working to help empower communities to achieve new frontiers of opportunity, laying the foundation for ongoing innovations and local entrepreneurship. Together, we can fulfill the promise to end extreme poverty in our lifetime.