By Elif Selin Cila, Ford Fellow, University of Michigan

As Americans, we lead very comfortable, stable lives. The majority of us never worry about where the next meal will come from or whether we will have somewhere to sleep. We seldom fear our government, police force, or for our lives. When we turn on our televisions and accidentally stumble upon the news, we are shocked and unable to comprehend the injustices occuring around the world.

We, to whom expecting justice and the protection of our rights has become second nature and sadly unappreciated, do not understand why, for example, the impoverished do not just "get a job" to better their situation, or depose a ruler which they do not support. Essentially, we forget that areas of the world do not have as strong of a system as the United States, or even that some of our very own citizens deal with poverty, hunger, and injustice.

For nations to advance and prosper, imposing a different system of government, sending aid, or improving education cannot be effective when individuals' basic needs are not met. This is the basis for the first and most urgent of the UN Millennium Development Goals: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. For citizens of struggling nations, it is unimaginable to establish a functioning and successful system of government when surviving is the greatest challenge. This struggle for survival often gives way to conflict, iniquity, disease, and death in great numbers.

In those areas where one's basic needs can be met, the lack of education becomes the greatest barrier to peace, equality, and development - the basis of the second UN Millennium Development Goal. Education, even if only at the most elementary levels of reading and writing, is one of the most powerful tools for an individual to acquire. It allows one to gain knowledge through reading, but more importantly to express opinions and experiences to a broader audience. One can learn ways to implement and call for change and to discuss and debate. To equip one with words, rather than weapons, has proven throughout history to be single best way to improve one's life and therefore, the state of the world.

Ironically, those who suffer most when impoverished and uneducated are whom society depends on most. Women are often the key to improving struggling societies, leading to the third of the UN Millennium Development Goals - to promote gender equality and empower women. They often are the ones rearing children, and giving women the skills to provide for their family and educating them, especially on health and their human rights, is crucial to building up a nation. Similar to a trickle down effect, as the economic situations of women advance, their social status becomes better as does the situation of their family and those around them.

It is a certainty that the remedy of many of the world's ailments lies in achieving these three UN Millennium Development Goals. These issues are at the crux of creating the world in which more people can experience the comfort and stability that many Americans do.