Global Fight against Poverty continues with meeting at WCC HQ

On 22 October 2004 a meeting between the World Council of Churches (WCC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) took place to discuss global poverty eradication. Heads of the three global bodies issued a joint statement from the Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, Switzerland at the meeting’s conclusion to describe the encounters that they have held since February 2003.

In preparation for the round-table discussion, the WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia met with the IMF deputy managing director Agustin Carstens and the WB president James D. Wolfensohn for a brief morning conference.

During the short informal conference, Kobia affirmed that the goals of the three organisations are one and the same: making a firm commitment to bring justice to the poor.

Kobia explained that the “World Bank’s vision of a poverty free world resonates well with a substantial portion of the Council’s analysis,” since the goal of “poverty reduction rather than eradication, is a trickle-down approach to development that implies that some people are expected to remain poor".

Kobia also highlighted the concerns of the Council to put people at the centre of economic development.

"For us, it is essential to listen to the cries of the people in order to achieve a new, just, global order," he stressed.

"Since millions have borne the social, political and ecological costs of the tenacious cycle of debt, the churches understand themselves to have been called to seek effective ways of breaking the stranglehold of debt, to redress its consequences and to ensure that subsequent debt crises will not recur," Kobia stated.

At that end, Kobia said he is “troubled by assumptions of growth without limit, and neglect of the ramifications of growth as regards issues of equity and the ecology.”

The series of meetings were described as “significant and useful”, and the statement confirmed that the past encounters had enabled them to improve “their mutual understanding of their positions on development and related issues,” whilst identifying “areas of common ground but also differences of views.”

The document affirmed the importance of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), and stated that “Central to the common ground is the fight against poverty – particularly the extreme poverty that remains all too prevalent in much of the world.”

“Development issues such as approaches to development, financial markets, and the impact of globalisation, along with economic issues such as those relating to macroeconomic stabilisation, government budgets, and international trade,” said the joint-statement.

The statement also indicated that the three organisations were committed “to a continuing dialogue to further increase their understanding of their respective experience and learning, as well as to build stronger alliances where appropriate.”

Present at the meeting were: World Bank (WB) president James D. Wolfensohn, International Monetary Fund (IMF) deputy managing director Agustín Carstens, WCC general secretary Samuel Kobia and WCC president from Africa, Agnes Abuom.