 |
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
September
19, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 16Oakland,
CA
Churches press U.N. on poverty
WASHINGTON—As
the political sphere assembled in New York for the United Nations General
Assembly, the religious world demanded that politicians uphold their promises
to alleviate the plight of the poor.
At the urgent call of the Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of
Cape Town, South Africa, religious leaders from both hemispheres gathered
last week to plot strategy on ending severe global poverty.
Archbishop Ndungane strategically scheduled the event to precede the Sept.
14 opening of the U.N. assembly, which will take stock of the 2000 U.N.
Millennium Development Goals.
A consensus statement—drafted by Anglicans, Evangelicals, Eastern
Orthodox, Catholics, mainline Protestants and representatives of Islam
and Judaism—was scheduled to be delivered to U.N. Secretary General
Kofi Annan.
With 2015 as a target, the U.N. objectives include cutting poverty in
half, providing universal primary education, and combating diseases such
as AIDS and malaria.
Archbishop Ndungane has said 2005 is a “make or break” year
for the goals.
“We have the resources; all we are lacking is political will,”
said Ndungane, the successor of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. “It’s
important for the (political) leadership to know where the religious leadership
stands on this and also for us to use our moral authority to try and influence
change in the right directions.”
The African Heritage Dancers & Drummers perform at
Washington National Cathedral during the opening of an interfaith summit
preceding the U.N. General Assembly’s consideration of ending global
poverty.
RNS PHOTO/DAVID KASAMATSU/Washington National
Cathedral
