All 191 united nations member states have promised to adopt eight Millennium Goals to halve global poverty by the year 2015 as part of the Micah Challenge.
"O God, to those who have hunger, give bread, and to those of us who have bread, give the hunger for justice," this prayer from Latin America has served as inspiration to those behind the Micah Challenge. The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Micah Network have launched a global campaign to mobilize nations against poverty.
The campaign seeks to deepen Christian engagement with the marginalized and to influence leaders of wealthy and impoverished nations to fulfill their public promises to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and halve absolute global poverty by 2015.
All 191 members states of the United Nations have promised to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The Goals include:
- Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
- Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
- Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
- Goal 5: Improve maternal health
- Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
- Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for DevelopmentWhat can you do as an individual, a U.S. citizen to work with our national government at halving the poverty rates in our country? It is a huge task and no we can't do it- ALONE- but what we can do is respond, individually to the challenges of each day as they present themselves. Never find yourself too busy to make eye contact, to reach out and touch someone, to stop and offer a simple blessing. What can you do today to end global poverty?For more information on the project, visit the Micah Challenge website.
Copyright Jenny Shultz. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.