UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon believes many countries are still on track to achieve internationally agreed goals to tackle poverty and other economic and social ills, but only if urgent and concerted action is taken by political leaders in rich and poor nations.

Mr Ban also said he was encouraged by the midway progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) released on Monday.

Addressing the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva on Monday, Mr Ban said: "Countries in Africa and elsewhere are demonstrating that rapid and large-scale progress on the MDGs is possible."

The eight MDGs were set by country leaders in 2000 with an overall target of halving extreme global poverty by 2015. This year marks the half-way point to their fulfilment.

ECOSOC is meeting in Geneva this week to tackle two of the objectives, to cut extreme poverty and hunger in half, and to build the global partnership for development.

Mr Ban urged a "strong and sustained effort" towards the fulfilment of the targets.

"Advancing on these two items is essential for human uplift, and it underpins our entire UN development agenda... Needless to say, millions of lives quite literally hang in the balance," he said.

The Secretary General called on the leaders of poor states to draw up national development strategies that ensure a focus on job creation, productivity, practical steps for increasing investments in key areas and improving access to markets.

But "all of this will simply not occur without adequate financing, much of which has to flow from a strengthened global partnership for development," warned Mr Ban, noting that in some countries and especially in sub-Saharan Africa progress towards the MDGs had so far been too slow.

Mr Ban said wealthy nations must keep their promises to eventually spend 0.7 per cent of their gross national product on official development assistance to poorer countries and "address the disparities in the global trade regime which handcuff so many developing nations."

He also stressed the need for country representatives at the current Doha round of trade negotiations to reach an agreement conducive to overcoming global poverty.

"Existing trade barriers, agricultural subsidies and restrictive rules on intellectual property rights reinforce global inequities - and they make a mockery of our tall claims to eliminate hunger and poverty from our world," he warned.

Christians worldwide are pressing their national governments to do everything they can to ensure the delivery of the MDGs by 2015 as part of the Micah Challenge Movement.

In the UK, Christian organisations such as Tearfund, World Vision, the Evangelical Alliance and the Shaftesbury Society are spearheading the Micah Challenge campaign to raise awareness of the MDGs among churches and mobilise congregations to engage with poverty and climate change issues.