( CNN ) -- At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , we consider ourselves to be impatient optimists -- we are impatient with the way the world is , but optimistic that changing it is possible . One reason for this optimism is the progress that we have seen in the 10 years since the United Nations created the Millennium Development Goals , eight international goals to improve social and economic conditions in the world 's poorest countries . Recently , we partnered with TED to create a global event to discuss this progress . TEDxChange was hosted in New York and broadcast live to over 80 simultaneous TEDx events in 40 countries around the world , including sites in Kibera , Kenya ; Abuja , Nigeria ; Pune , India ; Cochabamba , Bolivia ; and Lahore , Pakistan . The millennium goals themselves embody impatient optimism . They recognize how much there is to be done , while at the same time signaling the scale and scope of the world 's ambition . The world is not called on to conjure progress from a void . Instead , it is called on to learn from very real progress on nearly all the goals , to expand it , and to speed it up . One refrain I hear is that we are off track on many of the goals . That statement is technically accurate . Not every country will meet every goal , and there is a risk that some of the global goals wo n't be met . But that binary outlook -- with total success on one side , total failure on the other , and people on all sides blaming each other -- obscures extraordinary progress driven by extraordinary people across the globe . Take the goal for child mortality . The goal is a two-thirds reduction , and we may not reach it by 2015 . But have we failed when 4 million children who would have died in 1990 will survive in 2010 ? Have we failed when we have reduced polio , a crippling childhood disease , by 99 percent in the past 20 years ? Another complaint I hear a lot is that progress is n't spread evenly . Some people dismiss the fact that 1.3 billion people have lifted themselves out of poverty by pointing out that most of them live in China and India , not in African countries . I believe that when poor people lift themselves out of poverty , we ought to celebrate , no matter where they happen to live . Bill and I started our foundation because we believe that all lives have equal value , and I am not comfortable comparing one person 's suffering to that of another . While it 's true that some countries are reducing poverty more quickly than others -- and some , sadly , have moved backwards -- eight African countries have already achieved the goal on poverty reduction , and several more are on schedule to do so by 2015 . Across nearly every goal , there are inspiring examples of even the poorest countries making dramatic improvements in short periods of time . However , we can also learn from the successes in other sectors . My TEDxChange talk focuses on the question of how Coca-Cola has become so ubiquitous around the world and what governments and the development community can learn from the company 's success . By analyzing what Coca-Cola has done to become so prevalent , we can apply those lessons to the millennium goals and save even more lives . The task ahead is to learn what 's working so that we can spread best practices . In difficult economic times , it is imperative that we increase support for effective interventions that provide maximum value for money -- and not shift even bigger burdens to the poorest by cutting back on development spending . So I am impatient . I am impatient because the world is not getting better fast enough , or for enough people . But I am also optimistic . I am optimistic because there are proven and affordable ways to decrease hunger and poverty , to help mothers and their babies thrive , to make rapid progress on all the Millennium Development Goals . And I am optimistic that our impatience will lead us all to be more motivated , not less . I am optimistic that our sense of urgency will inspire us to work together , not to isolate ourselves . For if we are motivated , if we are inspired , if we work together -- then we can meet again in five years to celebrate achievements that few of us might have dared to imagine . I 'm grateful to CNN for including my TEDxChange presentation as part of their TEDTalks Tuesday series . There were several other speakers who joined our event that day , and I urge you to come to our TEDxChange website and watch their speeches as well . • Hans Rosling , professor of international health at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden , who uses statistics to show concrete examples of progress in child health ; . • Graca Machel , a renowned international advocate for women 's and children 's rights , on the key role of women and girls in achieving social change ; . • Mechai Viravaidya , aka Mr . Condom , the founder and chairman of the Population and Community Development Association , on creative approaches to family planning . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Melinda French Gates .
Melinda Gates : The UN adopted UN Goals 1990 . She says there 's been extraordinary progress in many areas . Reduction in child mortality alone will save one lives in 10 years ago , compared to 10 years ago , she says . Gates : I 'm optimistic about the world but impatient for faster change .