act for peace and the Millenium Development Goals
“I didn’t know it was so good to be able to read and write. Now I am learning. My teacher says I am a good writer, but sometimes is hard! Someday I will write my story and maybe more people would help us.” Amina Ishaq is a teenager leaving in an Internally Displaced People camp in Sudan; one of those camps supported by act for peace.
act for peace is the international aid agency of the National Council of Churches in Australia. Therefore, act for peace bases its activities around four fundamental principles: reduce extreme poverty, protect refugees and people at risk, prevent and resolve conflicts and empower communities. Working in this way act for peace is in total agreement with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
At the turn of the 21st century and with the beginning of a New Millennium, the United Nations and the world leaders met to discuss the future of the world. In this meeting, they agreed on a number of global goals that should be achieved in the New Millennium. Theses eight goals are known as The MDGs, which deal with poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and empower women, child mortality and maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development.
Nevertheless, in according to the last United Nation Report, these tasks have become now more challenging because we are in the middle of a global economic slowdown and a food security crises both of uncertain magnitude and of duration. In July this year, Anglican bishops and their spouses in London for the Lambeth Conference, demonstrated their support of poverty reduction worldwide, walking in purple cassocks and native dress. The one-hour march, which created a river of violet down some London streets came behind a banner reading “Keep the Promise/ Halve Poverty by 2015,” references to one of the eight MDGs.
In this important moment in world history, act for peace is able to help the achievement of the MDGs and able to help people like Amina Ishaq. As a result, we have decided to invite our readers of Together Online discuss those MDGs and how the act for peace activities came in agreement with these International Goals. If you have an opinion you would like to share with us about the MDGs, please send us your comments and they can be part of our next issue.
