UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Thursday renewed his plea for greater efforts by the world community to meet flagging Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) aimed at drastically cutting global poverty. The UN secretary general spoke as he unveiled the first report of a UN task force examining gaps in implementation of a key MDG: how to develop a global partnership for development. "This report sounds a strong alarm," Ban said. "The main message is that while there has been progress on several counts, delivery on commitments made by member states has been deficient, and has fallen behind schedule." "We are already in the second half of our contest against poverty. We are running out of time," he added. The report highlighted a "large delivery gap" in meeting commitments of official development assistance (ODA) by rich countries. "Last year, there was a shortfall of 10 billion dollars (70 billion euros) Total net aid from OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries amounted to only 0.28 per cent of their combined Gross National Income, as opposed to the UN target of 0.7 per cent," Ban said. He said that if the 2010 target set by leading industrialized nations in 2005 is to be met, ODA would have to rise 18 billion dollars a year, including 7.3 billion dollars earmarked for Africa. Ban recalled that the world body planned to host a meeting of world leaders on September 25 on the margins of the UN General Assembly session "to step up efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals." He also said the failure to conclude a development round of global trade talks "constitutes the largest implementation gap." "Even though aid for trade has increased in real terms, it has fallen as a percentage of ODA," Ban said. "The world's poorest countries are still marginalized, and many have been hit hard by high food and energy prices." He said the report "stresses that we need to move faster in reducing domestic and export subsidies on agriculture in developed countries, and in addressing other barriers to developing country exports and agricultural productivity growth."