wfn.org | [ENS] Historical interfaith convocation insists 'Hunger No More'

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Historical interfaith convocation insists "Hunger No More"

By Matthew Davies

ENS 060805-1

[ENS, Washington, D.C.] - In an unprecedented gathering, more than 1,000
people of various religious affiliations joined leaders of more than 40
faith communities for an interfaith convocation at Washington National
Cathedral June 6 united in a common conviction that no one should go
hungry.

Hosted by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., the event formed
part
of the One Table, Many Voices conference, a mobilization organized by
two
advocacy groups, Bread for the World and Call to Renewal, to highlight
issues of domestic and international hunger and to call on President
Bush
and the United States Congress to commit to eradicating poverty
worldwide.

Addressing the "Hunger No More" convocation, Archbishop Njongonkulu
Ndungane
of Cape Town spoke passionately about how "the plight of the hungry must
not
be left for heaven."

Bishop John Chane of Washington welcomed the gathering to the cathedral,
insisting that "we are living in a new generation that will no longer
know
the poverty that destroys millions of God's people."

Introduced by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, Ndungane explained that
852
million people face hunger every day and that, even in a wealthy nation
such
as the United States, there are 36 million people who are "food
insecure,"
almost 13 million of whom are children.

"Hunger in the U.S. has been on the rise for the last four years,"
Ndungane
reported. "Yet with such need, proposals in the current budget debate to
cut
[federal government nutrition] programs and deprive hundreds of
thousands of
working families of food support, cannot be justified, and must be
opposed,"
he added, to a wave of applause.

Ndungane described personal encounters of poverty and hardship from his
homeland, South Africa, stressing that people would rather be given
opportunities than hand-outs. "I have seen the face of poverty in the
eyes
of far too many men, women, children, the elderly, people with
disability,"
he said. "Their message was 'Archbishop, take our voices to the
corridors of
power, and say for us, "We do not want hand-outs; we have brains; we
have
hands; give us the capacity to eke out our own existence.'"

Speaking about 2005 as a "kairos" moment -- a Greek term denoting
special
turning points or opportunities -- Ndungane explained that with the
run-up
to the G-8 Summit in July and the UN Millennium meeting in September,
"there
is everything to play for" and a real opportunity to make a difference.
"Now
is the kairos moment when we start making hunger history," he said. "Now
is
the decisive point to which we will look back when we reach our goal of
'hunger no more.'"

Drawing on different cultures and traditions, the convocation featured a
feast of readings and musical offerings that included a Zulu freedom
song,
gospel choir performances, a hymn from South Africa's Xhosa tribe and
texts
from Sikh, Hebrew, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist sacred writings.

A call to commitment came from several children, who asked international
leaders to make the world a better place, posing the question: "What
will
you do to make a difference?"

The Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, described the
convocation as an "unprecedented event" in the nation's history. "This
convocation is of God -- bigger than any one of us," he said. "God has
made
it possible in our time to reduce hunger and we need to get the job
done."

Beckmann joined Ndungane and the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of
the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), at a news conference
earlier
in the day, during which Ndungane also described the event as a historic
and
unique occasion -- "a time when faith leaders are able to unite,
regardless
of their differences, to issue a clarion call to the world."

Alex Baumgarten, international policy analyst in the Episcopal Church's
Office of Government Relations (OGR), moderated a June 5 workshop on the
G-8
Summit and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an eight-prong
declaration that seeks to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

Baumgarten explained that all aspects of poverty are intertwined and
that
disease and conflict, for example, increase the inhibition of economic
growth.

"The goals seek to focus both on traditional development concerns like
institutions and governance, but also on the structural barriers that
prevent development, like barriers to trade or the burden of debt
repayments
by impoverished countries," Baumgarten said. "Developing nations spend a
large proportion of their annual budgets paying back debt to wealthy
international creditors, impeding their ability to deal with issues like
poverty, disease, and education."

With 10 years left in the MDGs' lifespan, Baumgarten said, "It's a make
or
break moment. If we are going to meet these goals, a significant
increase in
resources from industrialized nations is needed."

According to statistics, there are 54 countries in the world that are
poorer
now than they were in 1990, Baumgarten explained. "Even with commitment
to
MDGs we are still dramatically behind," he said.

After three days of workshops and plenary sessions that covered all
aspects
of hunger, poverty and related issues, the "One Table, Many Voices"
conference, held June 4-7 at the American University in Washington,
D.C.,
culminated on National Hunger Awareness Day, June 7, with a rally on
Capitol
Hill.

Maureen Shea, director of the Office of Government Relations -- which
hosted
pre-conference workshops June 4 on current legislation, the anti-hunger
work
of the Episcopal Church at the local level, and grassroots organizing --
described the conference as an important call to action to fight hunger
both
at home and abroad. "We know there is enough food to feed all the
world's
people," she said. "This conference is about sustaining the political
will
to see that all are fed."

The ONE campaign, another effort by Americans to fight extreme poverty
as
well as the global AIDS pandemic, has produced a video that invites
viewers
to visit www.one.org to learn more about the crisis and what they can do
to
make a difference. The ONE video features an all-star cast including
Presiding Bishop Griswold, Tom Hanks, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Al
Pacino,
Penelope Cruz, Benicio del Toro, Alfred Woodard, Rita Wilson and George
Clooney.

[Further information about the One Table, Many Voices conference is
available at www.onetableconference.org. For further information about
the
Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations:
www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn.]

-- Matthew Davies is staff writer and web manager of Episcopal News
Service.

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