{description}To help bridge the gap in quality of life between developed and underdeveloped nations, leaders from several countries in the United Nations (UN) created the Millennium Development Goals in September 2000—eight goals aimed at reducing worldwide hunger, poverty, disease and mortality, and promoting childhood education, gender equality and environmental sustainability. The UN set a target for meeting these goals by 2015.The progress of some of these efforts and their implications for members of the international community were discussed on October 7, 2006, at a conference entitled “Can the United Nations heal the world?” hosted by Stanford School of Medicine. Several Stanford professors spoke at the conference, including Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, Associate Professor of Pediatrics in Infectious Diseases, who focused on development goals to reduce childhood mortality and increase maternal health.{/description}