MPH is inviting all churches in the region to support
- The United Nations Millennium Campaign on Sunday 19th September -
- The 10.10.10 initiative of Micah Challenge on Sunday 10th October -
This is a special year and a special weekend – the year is 10 years after the historic Millennium Declaration to outlaw “abject and dehumanising extreme poverty” was signed by all the world's leaders, and 5 years before the date (2015) set for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), intended to halve severe poverty. The weekend is the weekend before world leaders meet at the UN to review progress towards the Goals.
“The summit will be a crucially important opportunity,” says UN Secretary General, Ban ki-Moon. “We have made important progress and have many successes on which to build… However, time is short… Falling short of the Goals would be an unacceptable failure."
MPH-NE invites all churches in the Region to pray for the outcome of the summit at their services on Sunday 19th September. Congregations can stand to show their support for the Goals, and the Stand Up Pledge, written specially for the occasion, may be read or displayed.
For further information visit the Stand Against Poverty website
Micah Challenge is an international Christian movement campaigning for the relief of global poverty. 10.10.10 is “a special campaign to focus to focus on our promise to the poor, ten years after all nations committed to halve world poverty by 2015… We want to declare God’s heart for the poor and remind our leaders that action to halve poverty is worth every effort.”
The Prayer: “Imagine 100 million Christians praying for justice in the nations… using the global prayer for Micah 2010… A children’s prayer is also available.”
The Promise: “Our dream is for 10 million people to promise to remember the poor.”
The Hand-Over: “A church could invite their MP to an event… contributing to our target of at least 1,000 meetings with political leaders in 20 countries.”
I urge church leaders to see for themselves the truly beautiful materials (video, prayers, actions) produced for 10.10.10 – go to the Micah Challenge website
10.10.10 is receiving support from national and international church leaders, ranging from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and Commissioner Christine Macmillan, of the Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission, to Peter Maiden, International Director of Operation Mobilisation, and many more.
United Nations Millennium Campaign
In the past, Make Poverty History North East has given valuable support to the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC), including, in 2008, coming up with the idea of setting a target for the participation of 1% of the global population (67 million), which was picked up even by the UNMC’s Director. [In the event they got nearly 2%!]
Is there progress to celebrate? Yes, there is! Many of the world's poorest countries are making the most overall progress towards the MDGs. "This establishes that much of the negative reporting on progress on the MDGs is misleading," says Salil Shetty, Director of the UNMC. "Instead of just lamenting that Africa might miss the MDG targets, we should be celebrating the real changes that have happened in the lives of millions of poor people.”
So can we just relax? No, we can’t, because we still have far to go! Furthermore, those who could be blamed the least, the poorest people in the poorest countries, are suffering the most from the financial crisis. In spite of this, commitments to help those in ‘abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty’, as the Millennium Declaration put it, are under attack as never before because of our own problems.
Our position is clear: There is little that we, here in the North East, can do to influence global events, but that ‘little’ we can and must do!
Micah 2010 - 10.10.10
The following is a selection of the many endorsements received by Micah 2010:
"... Oct 10th [is] a time when we can all focus our attention and energy. If we start praying now, if we start acting now and if we as believers can pull together in supporting these Goals we can hold our governments to account and we can make a difference in the world, the kind of difference God asks us to make." (Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams)
"I'm thrilled to be involved in the Micah 2010 campaign. It's designed to help those who imagine advocacy as only for policy specialists to see that as Christians we all have a role in speaking to our leaders with and for the poor, alongside practical action. Join in on 10.10.10." (Commissioner Christine Macmillan, Salvation Army, International Social Justice Commission)
"Micah Challenge has my total support. Halving poverty in the world by 2015 is something that every person or group seeking to demonstrate the love and power of God in His world must commit to." (Peter Maiden, International Director, Operation Mobilisation)
Why not make it 10.10.10.10.10?!
If one of your services is on-going at ten past ten, on the morning of 10th October 2010, you could time your involvement for 10.10.10.10.10!
Contact:
Dr David Golding CBE (d.w.golding@ncl.ac.uk)
Development Coordinator for Make Poverty History NE;
Member, Council of Reference, Micah Challenge UK
Honorary Chaplain at Newcastle University;