The MDGs & the Fight Against Global Poverty
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
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The 8 Millennium Development Goals
Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/ Aids, malaria and other disease
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
Augustine once said that charity is never an excuse for justice withheld. If we look at the world around us it is not hard to see the injustice of extreme poverty; it is entrenched in the systems and structures we have built and endemic in the behaviours we participate in. Poverty is not a natural state: it is created, and maintained. Over a billion people worldwide still struggle to survive; living in extreme poverty because of the decisions we have made and the actions we have taken.
And we no longer have any excuse. We know what it would take to end extreme poverty and we have the resources to do it. We are the first generation who can realistically claim that we can end extreme poverty altogether. In 2000 189 governments demonstrated their commitment to this opportunity by signing the Millennium Declaration; pledging to halve global poverty by 2015. And the 8 Millennium Development Goals offer a S.M.A.R.T1 roadmap to how this goal can be achieved.
These goals could change the world. But they are so much more than goals. They are our promises to the poor and oppressed; they are the beatitudes for a globalised world. They are undoubtedly ambitious, some might say too ambitious, but they issue from the heart of God himself.
They present us with a remarkable opportunity to pray, to live as a global body as we are intended to. And they call us to act. To stand up. To speak out. To say enough is enough. They call us to do something in our churches, in our communities and in our consciences that is a commitment not only to demanding an answer, but to being part of the answer ourselves.
God has always intended for us to be a part of his work in the world; we have a role to play. What an extraordinary privilege. And what a responsibility. We must each choose to do something. If we, for a moment, allow ourselves to believe that change is possible, we might find that we also have the opportunity to become agents for that change ourselves.
The Fight against Global Poverty
Global Poverty is not about charity. It is about justice." Bono, American Prayer BreakfastThe Bible is very clear about God’s response to injustice: ‘Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless’ says the prophet Isaiah. ‘What will you do on the day of reckoning?’ (Is 10:1-3)
We will all be held accountable for the injustices which we allow to persist. And injustice is no less evident today than it was when Isaiah was speaking. 6 and a half thousand Africans die each day from preventable, treatable diseases. 1 in 7 people go to bed hungry each night, although there is enough food to feed the world 1 and a half times over. More than one billion people around the world still don’t have access to safe sources of drinking water. This is not about charity. This is about justice.
The good news is that when we admit that poverty is made by people we also realise that we have the power to do something about it. And ours is the first generation that can realistically claim to be able to have the ability and resources to completely eradicate extreme poverty, to undo the injustices we have created. It can be different. It depends on us.
Nelson Mandela, speaking about the movement to end extreme poverty, said: ‘Sometimes it falls on a generation to be great. You could be that generation.’ 200 years ago William Wilberforce led a movement of people who were passionate about justice and about equality. They abolished the slave trade. Today extreme poverty is the greatest challenge and the greatest injustice that we face. What if we could make ending extreme poverty the legacy of our generation? Would you want to have been a part of it?
Micah Videos
‘Blow The Whistle’
The Blow the Whistle campaign in 2007 marked the halfway point to 2015 and called for our Government and the international community to look at the what achievement had been made across the 8 Millennium Development Goals and resolve to increase the current speed of progress so that the target to halve extreme poverty could be reached by 2015.
External Sites
The Global Poverty Project
Our partner, the Global Poverty Project has developed an inspiring presentation called 1.4 billion reasons aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of the causes of global poverty and offering the hope of practical solutions. Why not have your church host a presentation of 1.4 billion reasons as part of your response to Micah 2010. For more information visit the Global Poverty Project website.
Other Micah Resources
UN Millennium Development Goals Reports
To find out more about the MDGs and the progress that has been made so far read the annual UN reports by clicking on the links below.
More to see:
Get Promising!
People are already making their promises, will you join them? You can watch the film, make your promise, and tell your friends about it. Follow the link to whatsyourpromise.org.uk and get promising!
