What is 'Blow the Whistle'?
In 2000 world leaders, including the UK, committed to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. 2007 marks the half-way point to the fulfilment of the MDGs, and it’s time to Blow the Whistle to ensure our Government and others the world over honour their promises.
Since 2000, poverty and poverty-related issues have sprung up on government agendas worldwide, as the 2005 G8 meeting in Edinburgh clearly demonstrated. Yet progress has been poor and in many areas the situation is worse than before. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, more people suffer from hunger now than in 2000.
We have a long way to go to turn this tide around but it can be done - with determination and resolve, and if citizens demand it of their governments.
Blow the Whistle at Halftime is calling on our Government and the international community to look at the half-time scores and resolve to turn this match around so that we really do halve extreme poverty and hunger for the world’s poor by 2015.
Who is the 'Blow the Whistle' campaign aimed at?
This campaign is directed first and foremost at our Government and Christians here in the UK.
We want to remind Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn that we care about the world’s poorest people. We want to hold them to account on their promises to the poor and urge them to hold other world leaders to account in also playing their parts to fulfil the MDGs by 2015.
As Christians, we want to remind ourselves that we have a part to play in delivering these promises to the poor. God cares deeply about the poor. This is a theme that runs throughout the Bible and Christians are called to accompany faith with action; all Christians should get involved with Blow the Whistle as an expression of their faith and an outworking of their inner beliefs. Not only can we campaign, but we can also pray, learn more, give and get involved so that as individuals, churches and communities we can make a real difference.
Finally, Micah Challenge is reaching out to everyone; everyone who believes that global poverty is wrong and wants to do something about it has a part to play.
Why is it important to 'Blow the Whistle' now?
There are two great opportunities to build upon at this time. Firstly, huge energy was generated by the Make Poverty History campaign – if we do not act now this energy will be lost.
Make Poverty History had a massive impact on both the G8 leaders and the wider public - 88% of the UK public were aware of the campaign. The active role of the churches was widely acknowledged in the MPH evaluation report as absolutely central to the success of the campaign. Micah Challenge UK is setting out to harness and refocus the energy, passion and commitment of the hundreds of thousands of Christians that found in the MPH campaign a way to take effective action against the injustices of poverty.
Secondly, 2007 is ‘half-time’ – the half-way point to delivering the MDGs in 2015 and an ideal time to put the spotlight on governments and their performance to date. To do this, Micah Challenge is running a global ‘Blow the Whistle’ campaign to scrutinise the half time scores and the performance of the players - and so encourage global, G8 and national leaders to honour the promises they made to the world’s poorest.
