NEWS STORY: Religious Activists Say 2005 is Crucial Year for Cutting Global Poverty

c. 2005 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ A third of the way into the 15-year U.N. program aimed at cutting global poverty by 50 percent, church leaders and activists say progress so far has been abysmal and 2005 is a make-or-break year for the program. The eight-prong Millennium Development Goals will fail unless governments commit […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ A third of the way into the 15-year U.N. program aimed at cutting global poverty by 50 percent, church leaders and activists say progress so far has been abysmal and 2005 is a make-or-break year for the program.

The eight-prong Millennium Development Goals will fail unless governments commit the resources to achieve them, the Anglican archbishop of South Africa said this week.


“Globalization has accorded this world so much prosperity and progress, it is not only sinful but also morally wrong that there are people who go hungry every day,” Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said in an interview.

Supporters say unless efforts are refocused at three key meetings this year, the world will fail to keep promises made in 2000 to combat poverty, hunger, lack of education, child and maternal mortality rates and HIV/AIDS.

Sparked by the Jubilee campaign in 2000 that helped erase crushing debt loads owed by poor Third World countries, religious groups from across the spectrum have shown unprecedented unity in fighting global poverty.

The One Campaign, for example, brought together a dozen Christian and secular relief groups to keep focus on the millennium goals. Last year, Ndungane helped inaugurate the Micah Challenge, a coalition of 260 non-profit aid groups with the same goal.

Activists worry, however, that the world’s attention span is fading.

Ndungane, in Washington to lobby for the program, has emerged as a leading voice for Third World development, much like his predecessor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, focused the world’s attention on apartheid in South Africa. On a scale of 1-10, he rates progress at a 3.

“Five years down the line our record has not been good,” he said, blaming inaction on Western greed, selfishness and a lack of political will.

Three meetings this year _ the annual summit of G-8 nations in Scotland; a UN summit on the millennium goals next fall; and a December World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong _ may determine the future of the initiative.


Last year, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the effort needs a “quantum leap” in order to meet its goals. The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, said it’s now time for the United States and others to “get serious about getting the job done.”

A 2004 U.N. progress report found “no change” in tackling poverty and hunger in sub-Saharan Africa and “lagging progress” in South Asia. However, there was some success in northern Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central Asia.

Tom Hart, director of government relations for DATA, the development advocacy agency founded by Bono, of the musical group U2, and part of the One Campaign, said the world has made measured progress on debt relief and efforts to combat the AIDS pandemic, but more needs to be done.

“The progress is good and in a sense we can see a roadmap for how Africa can meet it’s goals, but we need to kick it up a gear,” he said.

Activists are looking to Washington to take the lead, and are watching two key programs as a barometer for America’s own commitments:

_ Millennium Challenge Accounts: President Bush’s plan to commit $5 billion on U.S. aid by 2006 for developing countries that meet rigorous criteria has been underfunded. So far, the program has received about $2.5 billion, and the White House has asked for $3 billion next year, and hopes to reach $5 billion by 2007.


“It’s taking more time than we had hoped, but we are confident that through increased funding levels we hope Congress will provide … the goals of the president will be met,” said Noam Neusner, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget.

_ Global AIDS Relief: Bush surprised Congress in 2003 with a request for $15 billion over 10 years to fight HIV and AIDS around the world. So far, the program has gotten a little more than $5 billion from Congress, and Bush has asked for $3.2 billion in 2006.

What concerns activists is what happens after Bush spends $15 billion on AIDS, or reaches the $5 billion goal for development next year. Will funding continue? Will new programs be added? Does American commitment peter out?

The Most Rev. Frank Griswold, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, who accompanied Ndungane to Washington, said God and the world will judge America on how it treats the poor.

“As a nation that freely uses religious language in its political rhetoric, we better take that language seriously,” Griswold said, “and ask ourselves what it means to be a country that lives … for the sake of the world, not just our own self interest.”

MO/RB END ECKSTROM

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