Mark Zuckerberg speaks at UN: Internet access can eradicate extreme poverty

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg recently spoke at UN and says there is more that can be done that's why he and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, along with Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and U2 front man Bono rallied to eradicate poverty by bringing internet access all over the world. UN has made it a goal to achieve by 2020.

Zuckerberg believes that with every 10 persons connected to Facebook; one is being lifted out of poverty. "When communities are connected, we can lift them out of poverty," he said. "We can and must do more. If we connect the more than four billion people not yet online, we have a historic opportunity to lift the entire world in the coming decades," he added.

CNN writes that Facebook would be working with the U.N. to help bring Internet access especially to refugee camps. This is timely, especially with Europe's current crisis. Although the internet became commonplace in developed countries since the 1990s, it should be acknowledged that half of the world still does not have reliable access to the internet. Women and girls, whose education is vital to societal development, need to be given stable internet access.

According to Perth Now, a declaration signed by Zuckerberg and Bill and Melinda Gates, who are all known in dedicating their wealth to philanthropy, states that, "When people have access to the tools and knowledge of the internet, they have access to opportunities that make life better for all of us. The internet belongs to everyone. It should be accessible by everyone."

According to The Economic Times, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has revealed that over USD 25 billion has already been committed in order to meet the goals. About USD 3.3 billion of this came from the United States and large pledges also came from Canada, Germany and Sweden.

The U.S. partnership of Mark Zuckerberg is part of the U.N.'s effort to eliminate extreme poverty by the year 2030.