With the major United Nations MDG review summit just a week away, the Guardian has finally today launched its new website which will give further prominence to its global development coverage.

Created in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the impressive-looking portal is hoped to “provide a new space for discussion and interaction on the biggest challenges affecting the lives of billions of people across the developing world, including poverty, hunger, infant mortality, adaptation to climate change and economic development.”

A nice innovation and a very handy feature is the ability to access a central data store in which masses of development and aid data is stored and through which users can uncover up-to-date development statistics. For example, using this facility users such as myself will be able to find out who has given the most aid to Pakistan (as of 14/09: the USA at $156 million).

The main editorial content of the site will be provided by “the best of the Guardian's writers on development” as well by a selection of the most distinctive development blogs from around the world. In addition, the site also features individual case studies to each of the MDGs and every month there will be a 'Poverty Matters' podcast.

In a press release announcing the launch, Alan Rusbridger the Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media said: "all too often the mainstream press ignores long-term development stories. However, it is essential to have a place where some of the biggest questions facing humanity are analysed and debated, and through which we can monitor the effectiveness of the billions of pounds of aid that flows annually into the developing world.”

“The creation of this website is a natural step for the Guardian, which has always been internationalist in its outlook and passionate about social justice.”

Have a look for yourself at: www.guardian.co.uk/global-development.