Archive for December 2010
Heart for the Poor MDG8 Develop a global partnership for development Richard Barter Dec 7 2010
What is it going to take to deal to poverty, the last of the Millennium Development Goals is “Develop a global partnership for development” with the following targets.
Target 1: Address the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states
Target 2: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
Target 3: Deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt
Target 4: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
Target 5: In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications.
How will this happen? It could be argued that there are simply speaking four major players in any society. The first is governments, while many have legitimacy, few have any real global influence, and they are generally only around for the term they are elected for.
Secondly we have businesses and corporations. You could argue that many do have global impact, they tend to plan for short term , often only quarters of a year, and they are only accountable to their shareholders, not local people, so can lack legitimacy.
Thirdly we have civil society. This includes the non government organisations, associations, clubs etc that make up any given community. There can be civil society organisations that have global connections, and some have a long term vision. But again they struggle to achieve broad based legitimacy.
Lastly there are movements. These are different to the above groupings and they exist not for much other than their purpose. An example is the anti landmine movement. They can have global impact, they are enduring and their legitimacy is based on the moral foundations they are built on.
I am arguing that the faith groups around the world who call themselves Christian are such a movement. It is one that has throughout the ages sought to fulfil Christ’s call in Luke 4 to 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” Doesn’t this sound like those targets for the 8th MDG Goal? There are many verses in the Bible that call for fairness and justice, warn the rich and the powerful and encourage the forgiveness of debt. The prophets in particular speak out against oppression and injustice such as this extract from Isaiah 10: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.”
Prayer: Father God when you chose to reveal yourself through a baby, born to a young couple on the fringe of a hostile society, you started an enduring movement. As we approach Christmas, speak to us as Christians as to ways we can fulfil Christ’s call to proclaim good news, heal the sick, set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Amen
