G8 summit offers chance to assist poorest nations
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Photo by the Rev. Ray Buchanan, Stop Hunger Now
Faith leaders are urging G8 members to alleviate poverty in Africa.
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photo exhibit featuring portraits of impoverished children and families
in Africa is focusing attention on the continent’s pressing social
problems. The exhibit, “Bread and Stones,” is on display in the rotunda
of the United Methodist Building at Capitol Hill. Photos were taken in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Zambia, Kenya, Sierra
Leone and Algeria. A UMNS photo by the Rev. Ray Buchanan, Stop Hunger
Now. Photo number 05-468, Accompanies UMNS #375, 7/1/05 |
July 1, 2005
NEW YORK (UMNS)—The Group of Eight summit in Scotland July 6-8 offers
a historic opportunity to assist the world’s poorest nations, according
to a United Methodist official whose agency works in many of those
countries.
"This year’s meeting of the G8 nations is a good occasion to confirm
and increase the policy signaled when their chief financial officers on
June 11 announced agreement to cancel $40 billion in debt owned by the
18 poorest of the poor nations, mostly in Africa," said the Rev. R.
Randy Day, chief executive, United Methodist Board of Global Ministries.
In a June 30 statement, he also acknowledged the leadership of U.S.
President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the debt
relief issue.
The Board of Global Ministries works in 12 of the 18 countries that
will benefit from the initial debt cancellation—Bolivia, Burkina Faso,
Ghana, Guyana, Honduras, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Senegal,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
"We know firsthand of the economic challenges faced by these
countries," Day said. "We know how debt overload contributes to poverty,
lack of educational opportunities and a scarcity of health resources.
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The Rev. R. Randy Day |
"Yet many other nations are also reeling under staggering debt that
needs to be forgiven or reduced. There is a great need for more direct
assistance for education, medical services and economic development in
Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia."
The G8 nations—Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia
and the United States—will be judged by history "and, some of us
believe, under the judgment of God" as they respond to global poverty
during the Gleneagles summit, Day said.
Carol Windrum, director of peace with justice ministries for the
United Methodist Nebraska Annual (regional) Conference, will be part of a
30-member delegation representing Bread for the World that will travel
to Scotland "to have a prayerful, peaceful presence at the G8 Summit."
Mark Harrison, a staff executive with the United Methodist Board of
Church and Society, acknowledged the G8’s initial debt cancellations but
said the board wants the Bush administration to "come up with a major
increase in development assistance beyond what has been done so far."
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Mark Harrison |
"We’d like to see an additional 1 percent of the federal budget go
towards development assistance," Harrison said in a June 29 interview.
The agency also wants fair trade that benefits poor countries,
especially small farmers, he added.
President Bush announced June 30 that the United States would provide
a $1.7 billion aid package to Africa, aimed in large part at fighting
malaria. He also said total U.S. assistance to Africa would be doubled
by 2010, according to news reports. The news followed Bush’s June
announcement of $674 million in food aid to Africa.
The Board of Church and Society is partnering with the ONE Campaign,
aimed at ending poverty, and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty,
Harrison said. The board is promoting the fight against poverty through
United Methodist peace with justice coordinators in the church’s
regional conferences, he said.
"Also, we’re urging United Methodists to wear the white armband that
most countries are promoting as a symbol of solidarity to end poverty
throughout God’s world." The armbands can be ordered at www.one.org.
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Resources
Bishops’ Initiative on Children and Poverty
G8 Gleneagles 2005
Global Call to Action Against Poverty
Poverty Related Articles
Poverty and Hunger Resources
ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History
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