The world’s largest ecumenical body of churches urged the G8 nations to cancel debts for poor countries and help reduce poverty by promoting an economy of sharing and justice, in a letter sent to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair ahead of the next G8 meeting in July.
"Life in dignity for all in just and sustainable communities is the framework that has determined the ecumenical vision," the World Council of Churches (WCC)’s General Secretary, Samuel Kobia, wrote. "We are convinced that such a vision can become a reality only when economic, financial and ecological justice is addressed holistically, with democratic participation of all, at all levels."
The letter, sent in late May, encouraged G8 members to "cancel 100% of illegitimate debts for poor countries," and suggested the IMF and World Bank could sell their gold reserves to help balance out the debt. The letter also said the banks in the North should return "stolen wealth" from the global South.
On trade, Kobia said poor countries should be given the right to protect their agricultural sector and encouraged developed countries to eliminate trade subsidies to even out the competitive field.
The following is the full text of Kobia’s statement, as released by the WCC:
At the outset we express our congratulations to you on your re-election as Prime Minister of the UK. We watched the elections with keen interest and were happy to note your continuing commitment to social justice for all and your reiteration of the need to focus on Africa, that you so clearly expressed in your first comments to the press after your election. We look forward with keen anticipation to your leadership of the G8 and the challenges you hope to inspire them with. Our thoughts and prayers will accompany you as you discharge this noble responsibility.
The WCC is aware of the meeting of the G8 that will take place in Scotland in July 2005 and its crucial importance to the whole world, and we therefore take this opportunity to address to you some concerns that we pray the G8 will focus on during the meeting.
We write this pastoral letter to the G8 so as to raise a candle in a world that seems to be floundering in the dark rather than more resolutely promoting an economy of sharing and justice as a solution to poverty and environmental destruction. For the WCC justice has been and will always be the heart of the matter.
Life in dignity for all in just and sustainable communities is the framework that has determined the ecumenical vision to respond to the pressing concerns of economy and ecology. But we are convinced that such a vision can become a reality only when economic, financial and ecological justice is addressed holistically, with democratic participation of all, at all levels. The vision can never be achieved while the material over-abundance enjoyed by a small part of the global community continues to grow side-by-side with (and most often at the expense of) the abject poverty of a large proportion of this community, resulting in increasingly unconscionable levels of inequity. The number of people who suffer from extreme poverty, hunger and a lack of health have increased in the past decade because of systems of global injustice. The WCC, therefore, urges the G8 to rethink the logic of corporate globalisation, which we believe has only sharpened the gap between the rich and the poor and has led to a destruction of the environment. The grinding poverty experienced by millions in our world today is derived from economic models of excessive competition motivated by profits. The WCC cautions that if no drastic changes are made in the present paradigms of economic growth, there will only be an aggravation of poverty leading to insecurity, violence and unnecessary deaths.
