A French song of justice is heard around the world

Classical and gospel music artists performed at a unique concert on Saturday in Paris to highlight EXPOSED, a worldwide anti-corruption campaign. The crowd at the venue heard classical greats as well as gospel music. 

The Global Call for EXPOSED 2013 was officially launched in France and over 200 concertgoers had the opportunity to be among the first to add their voice calling for integrity and transparency in public life and an end to corruption. 104 people added their signature at the event. 

Corruption is one of the chief causes of poverty in the world, undermines the quality of basic services and breaks down trust wherever it takes place. It is estimated that $1 trillion goes “missing” from the global economy each year, stolen from citizens and diverted into private hands with devastating consequences especially for the poorest.[1] 

Concert organiser Coralie Omadei (right), from Micah Challenge France (Défi Michée) said, “Corruption is a huge barrier to overcoming poverty. But we don’t just want to be negative. We want to proclaim justice and bring positive change. We want to see God's blessings released and restored for all.” 

Thierry Seewald, who has worked with churches to tackle extreme poverty for a decade, knows that many Christians in France do not appreciate that corruption happens in Europe, “but recent events have confirmed that we are not spared from the corruption. Even churches throughout the world can fall short of God’s standards of financial integrity”, he said. 

A strong feature of the EXPOSED campaign is that the church is seeking to call all people in all nations to recognize the sin of greed that results in corrupt behaviour. 

Christian leaders in Burundi sent messages of support to the church in France ahead of the concert. Burundi is a nation with historical links to France and Francois Ndibwami, who leads Micah Challenge has told bishops and other leaders “our support in prayer is a powerful way to support the church in France and fight the sins of greed and corruption.” 

Ndibwami is conscious that corruption in Burundi is a daily challenge for many people and that the church can be a stronger voice.

EXPOSED aims to see 100 million Christians around the world involved in prayer vigils and wants to see more than one million people adding their name to the Global Call to end corruption. 

 

Journey of 1000 days

Stories and ideas flowed at the Micah Challenge meeting near Cape Town, South Africa when 35 coordinators and key partners from 18 nations gathered to encourage each other on the last 1000 days of the journey to 2015.

It was very encouraging to see everyone so focused on campaigning challenges and so keen to grapple with corruption issues via the EXPOSED campaign.

We explored the EXPOSED toolkit and tackled gritty issues for nations like Malaysia where public meetings of Christians are risky, or India where the laws are good on paper but shaky in reality.

European Parliament takes huge step to fight corruption in global industries.

Europe has passed new laws requiring EU-based companies to publish details of the payments they make to governments for access to natural resources around the world. This will make it much easier for citizens in nations with resources like oil, minerals and timber to know how much their governments have earned and to track where the money goes.

1000 days left to meet poverty goals

Friday April 5th marks 1000 days until the deadline for completion of the global goals to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were agreed by 182 nations in 2000 and promised to halve hunger, get all children into school, provide clean water and sanitation for millions, tackle diseases like malaria and greatly improve maternal health.

Christian leaders from many parts of the world have written an open letter to remind governments of the commitment.