Rally against Poverty to be endorsed by Churches in Africa

In the run-up to the high-profile Make Poverty History rally on 2nd July in Edinburgh, Scotland, the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) will join the hundreds of thousands of campaigners in the UK to make their voices heard to leaders of the eight richest countries in the world.

From a latest press release, the AACC is appealing to all National Councils of Churches and Civil Service Organisations (CSOs) to join in the campaign against poverty in Africa by marching to the G8 embassies in their respective countries. Protesters are expected to urge the world leaders to make changes to the international trade and economic policies that continue to impoverish the continent.

Battu Jambawai, AACC’s Program Executive on Social and Economic Justice, commented that policies made at the global meetings usually only benefit wealthy countries, therefore the march will stress the need for Africa to be able to articulate their needs and have them reflected in international policies.

To facilitate and educate the churches on how they can be actively engaged in the anti-poverty campaign, AACC Social and Economic Justice Program have published information booklets to be used in churches around Africa, which suggest action to be carried out by the parishioners, issues to pray for and selected Bible passages for reflection.

While Africa has long been stricken by wars, poverty and diseases, the role of the church in supporting the society is becoming more significant. On 20th May, over 100 NGOs and CSOs met in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss the progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as stipulated by the UN General Assembly in the year 2000.

One of the MDGs is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger in the world, which means to reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day as well as to reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. This is to be achieved by 2015.

Addressing the meeting, Mr. George Anyango, an official in charge of the MDGs focal point at Kenya’s Ministry of Planning and National Development, said the MDGs represent the basic components of a decent life and should therefore be used by African governments to address poverty and problems of development.

As the UK is holding the presidency for the EU and the G8 summit in 2005, many regard this as a chance to make a major leap towards the MDGs if Britain can lead the other seven richest nations of the world - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the US - to make a radical change in the global policy to protect the poorer countries. World leaders are urged to drop the debt of the poor countries, increase international aid and reinforce trade justice.

Founded in 1963, the All Africa Conference of Churches is an ecumenical fellowship representing more than 120 million Christians in 39 African countries working to make a difference in the lives of the people of Africa through ministries of advocacy and presence on the continental, regional, and local levels. It is now based in Nairobi, Kenya.