Colombia is one of ten countries considered an example by the United Nations because of its progress made to reach the “Millennium Goals” set by the U.N. in 2000.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Colombia and nine other nations in their successes in the fight against poverty and misery.
According to Ban, countries like Colombia and Asian nation Laos show “the importance of understanding the obstacles we face and how to overcome them.”
“We know what works. We’re also coming to know more about how to implement the successes of one country to another,” the highest U.N. official said.
In a response, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he felt honored his country was included in the list of ten exemplary countries as Colombia in 2000 “was pretty much considered a failed state.”
Santos attributed the transformation to his predecessor Alvaro Uribe, and the advances made by Uribe’s two governments in fighting leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary groups.
According to the Colombian leader, his country has fully achieved 16% of the millennium goals, and is two-thirds of the way towards achieving 32% of them.
Santos said that in the past ten years, 1.7 million Colombians were lifted out of poverty.
“However, 46% of the population still lives in poverty and 16% in extreme poverty,” the president said.
The Colombian president was invited to address the summit himself.