Yet:

This uneven progress raises concerns that the 8 Millennium Development Goals approved by 189 nations in 2000, the first of which is to halve 1990 poverty rates by 2015, may be beyond reach for some countries. "Economic growth in China and India has delivered a dramatic reduction in the number of poor," said François Bourguignon, the [World] Bank's Chief Economist. "But other regions have not enjoyed sustained growth and, in too many cases, the number of poor has actually increased....[M]uch more aid, much more openness to trade, and more widespread policy reforms are needed to achieve all the development goals in all countries."