wfn.org | Archbishop of Canterbury calls for meeting UN Millennium Development Goals

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Archbishop of Canterbury calls for greater co-operation to meet 
Millennium Development Goals

Posted On : September 24, 2008 2:46 PM | Posted By : Admin ACO
Related Categories: Lambeth

ACNS: http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/9/24/ACNS4526

On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Millennium
Development Goals in New York, the Archbishop of Canterbury has
underlined the commitment of the Anglican Church to continue to work for
the eradication of poverty.

In a video message the Archbishop has backed calls for a renewal of the
pledges made by the international community in 2000, and spoke of the
need for the Anglican Church to work in harmony with governments and
NGOs around the world in order to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals by 2015:

"...much of the work that's being done by the Anglican Church covers
very comprehensively the Millennium Development Goals. We want to anchor
that work in worldwide co-operation. We want to do that work in synergy
with those governments and NGOs who are working for the same end. And we
want to let Governments and NGOs know that we are there and we are
ready.   ....Let this meeting in New York be an occasion where the
consciences and the hearts of all are truly touched and changed, turned
towards the needs of the poorest, turned towards the recognition that we
have it in our hands to make a difference"

The video message follows on from the manifesto that was formally handed
to Gordon Brown PM at the conclusion of the Walk of Witness during the
Lambeth Conference in July. In the manifesto the bishops of the Anglican
Communion urged that:

"When they meet in New York at the United Nations on 25th September,
world leaders must find greater political commitment to addressing
poverty and inequality. A timetable for achieving the MDGs by 2015 needs
to be created. Our leaders need to invest in and strengthen their
partnership with the Church worldwide, so that its extensive delivery
network for education and health care, alongside other faiths, is fully
utilised in the eradication of extreme poverty."

> Ends

> Notes to editors:

The video message can be viewed on the Lambeth Palace YouTube channel:

> http://www.youtube.com/lambethpress

The manifesto from the Lambeth Conference Walk of Witness can be found
here:

http://www.lambethconference.org/daily/news.cfm/2008/7/24/ACNS4463

The transcription of the Archbishop's message can be found below:

On the 24th of July this year a very large number of bishops from the
Anglican Communion worldwide took part in a Walk of Witness in London -
from the central Government to Lambeth Palace, the Archbishop's
residence. What we were witnessing to was the commitment of the Anglican
Communion to the Millennium Development Goals; our willingness as a
worldwide family of churches to give of our best in prayer, in work, in
sympathy to all those who are working to realize these goals for the
good of our common humanity.

Very many of the bishops who were there came from circumstances where
this work was already well advanced. And as a family of churches we look
with some pride and gratitude at what is already being done. We think of
the work for example, that is being done in the Anglican Church in
Southern Sudan, an area which has one the lowest rates of enrolment for
teachers in the whole world and where the Anglican Church has pioneered
and pushed forward recruitment to teaching and the training of teachers.

We might think also of Burundi, where the Anglican Church, and
especially the Mothers' Union, is working on yet another post conflict
situation to raise awareness of women's issues (especially women who
have been traumatised by violence) to raise awareness of domestic
violence and to improve female literacy. In Northern Uganda, an area
that has been deeply scarred by conflict, poverty and instability in
recent years - our church has been working very hard to provide
agricultural training. In many countries in Africa, the American based
Episcopal Relief and Development team has been distributing mosquito
nets - once again tackling at grass roots level the issues of ignorance
and disease that so afflict so many.

And again, in many places in the continent, the Mothers' Union continues
its work in training traditional birth assistants to improve the
prospects of mothers who've just borne children. In other words, much of
the work that's being done by the Anglican Church covers very
comprehensively the Millennium Development Goals. We want to anchor that
work in worldwide co-operation. We want to do that work in synergy with
those governments and NGOs who are working for the same end. And we want
to let Governments and NGOs know that we are there and we are ready.

In connection with this special session at the United Nations, there are
many Anglicans praying and working towards its goals. Here in the United
Kingdom we are having a week of events, of reflection and prayer,
leading up to this meeting, and a fast has been announced for the 24th
of September. The Lambeth Conference did indeed suggest that the
Anglican Church worldwide might engage in prayer and fasting around the
time of the special session in New York, and I'm aware that as well as
what's happening here in the United Kingdom, the Episcopal Church in the
United States has called for a day of prayer and fasting on the 25th of
September.

In and around the events of the United Nations, my colleague, the
Archbishop of York will be alongside our prime minister in launching the
'Education for All' programme. There will be a service in the Cathedral
of St John the Divine, and we are sending a number of people to be part
of this meeting to show our willingness, our readiness to work alongside
all those who care for the flourishing of our humanity.

In the last few decades we've become more and more aware that no one in
our human family suffers alone. The suffering and the deprivation is the
suffering and deprivation of all, and this basic Christian insight, an
insight deeply rooted in the New Testament, is one which drives our
concern and our commitment around the Millennium Development Goals - and
all other areas where we need to address suffering and poverty. My
neighbour's suffering is my suffering, and my neighbour's welfare is my
welfare. I can't actually be happy or prosperous in the long run without
my neighbour's happiness and prosperity. And once again the New
Testament reminds us that when one part of the body rejoices and
flourishes, the whole body rejoices and flourishes.

It's with that vision of the Body of Christ in mind that we take up our
responsibilities in this area. We know from our experience as Churches
that the sufferings, the complications, the controversies and the
frustrations of any one Church can affect us all. We know we feel very
deeply that the witness and the generosity of one Church can inspire and
change us all. I've talked a bit earlier about some of the work that's
being done by our brothers and sisters in other countries. And when I
think of what is done in Sudan or Uganda or Burundi towards these
Millennium Development Goals, I feel there the Church is truly being the
Church in a way that helps me - that helps us in the United Kingdom grow
that little bit further towards responsibility and generosity in our
work.

So as this crucially important meeting opens, I want to ensure all those
involved of my prayers and my commitment. On July the 24th here in
London we called upon our own government to keep up the pressure
worldwide towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,
and we had a warm and deeply encouraging response from our own
government. We want to take this opportunity to say the same thing to
the governments of the whole world on behalf of our worldwide
fellowship. Let this meeting in New York be an occasion where the
consciences and the hearts of all are truly touched and changed; turned
towards the needs of the poorest, turned towards the recognition that we
have it in our hands to make a difference. To bring welfare and
happiness to our neighbors, and so finally also to ourselves - so that
together, as a united human family sharing and loving, we may show on
earth something of God's peace and God's love, and send out a message of
real hope.

> (c) Rowan Williams

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