Global Religious and Faith-Based Organization Leaders Issue Call and Commitment to End Extreme Poverty by 2030
PRESS RELEASE
“Ending Extreme Poverty: A Moral and Spiritual Imperative”
April 9, 2015—Over 30 leaders from major world religions and heads of global faith-based organizations today launched a clarion call to action to end extreme poverty by 2030, a goal shared by the World Bank Group.
Ending Extreme Poverty: A Moral and Spiritual Imperative notes that remarkable progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty. Over 25 years the world has gone from nearly 2 billion people to fewer than 1 billion living in extreme poverty. Now, for the first time in human history there exists both the capacity and moral responsibility to ensure that no one has to live in extreme poverty’s grip.
“We have ample evidence from the World Bank Group and others showing that we can now end extreme poverty within fifteen years,” the Moral Imperative statement notes. “In 2015, our governments will be deciding upon a new global sustainable development agenda that has the potential to build on our shared values to finish the urgent task of ending extreme poverty.”
“We in the faith community embrace this moral imperative because we share the belief that the moral test of our society is how the weakest and most vulnerable are faring. Our sacred texts also call us to combat injustice and uplift the poorest in our midst.”
The Moral Imperative statement seeks to generate the necessary social and political will by inspiring greater commitments from others to join in this cause, tapping into many of the shared convictions and beliefs that unify the world’s major religions around the call and responsibility to combat poverty.
The announcement today from global faith leaders arose from the World Bank’s “Faith Based and Religious Leaders Roundtable” held on February 18, the first high-level meeting between World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim and faith leaders…
…World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim responded to the launch of this moral imperative, stating, “Faith leaders and the World Bank Group share a common goal – to realize a world free of extreme poverty in just 15 years. The moral imperative can help drive the movement to end poverty by 2030 by inspiring large communities to act now and to advocate for governments to do the same. These commitments from religious leaders come at just the right time – their actions can help hundreds of millions of people lift themselves out of poverty.
The statement closes by framing the imperative in stark terms: “Poverty’s imprisonment of more than a billion men, women and children must end. Now is the time to boldly act to free the next generation from extreme poverty’s grip.”..
Statement: Ending Extreme Poverty: A Moral and Spiritual Imperative
08 April 2015
Faith2EndPoverty: https://www.rebelmouse.com/faith2endpoverty/
OUR COMMON UNDERSTANDING
As leaders from diverse religious traditions, we share a compelling vision to end extreme poverty by the year 2030. For the first time in human history, we can do more than simply envision a world free of extreme poverty; we can make it a reality. Accomplishing this goal will take two commitments: to act guided by the best evidence of what works and what doesn’t; and to use our voices to compel and challenge others to join us in this urgent cause inspired by our deepest spiritual values.
The world has achieved remarkable progress in the past two decades in cutting in half the number of people living in extreme poverty. We have ample evidence from the World Bank Group and others showing that we can now end extreme poverty within fifteen years. In 2015, our governments will be deciding upon a new global sustainable development agenda that has the potential to build on our shared values to finish the urgent task of ending extreme poverty.
We in the faith community embrace this moral imperative because we share the belief that the moral test of our society is how the weakest and most vulnerable are faring. Our sacred texts also call us to combat injustice and uplift the poorest in our midst. No one, regardless of sex, age, race, or belief, should be denied experiencing the fullness of life.
OUR SHARED MORAL CONSENSUS
This is why the continued existence of extreme poverty in a plentiful world offends us so deeply. Our faith is tested and our hearts are broken when, in an age of unprecedented wealth and scientific advancement, so many still live in degrading conditions. We know too well that extreme poverty thwarts human purpose, chokes human potential, and affronts human dignity. In our increasingly interconnected world, there is enough to ensure that no one has to fight for their daily survival.
Ending extreme poverty will require a comprehensive approach that tackles its underlying causes—including preventable illness, a lack of access to quality education, joblessness, corruption, violent conflicts, and discrimination against women, ethnic minorities and other groups. It will also necessitate a change in the habits that cause poverty—greed and waste, numbness to the pain of others, and exploitation of people and the natural world. It calls for a holistic and sustainable approach that transforms cultures and institutions, and hearts as well as minds.
In too many parts of the world, women and girls are consigned to second class status, denied access to education and employment, and victimized by violence, trafficking, and rape. Until each and every person is afforded the same basic rights, none of us can truly flourish.
We must also state unequivocally that ending extreme poverty without mitigating climate change and combating inequality will be impossible. Climate change is already disproportionately hurting people living in poverty. Extreme inequality, within and between countries, contradicts our shared religious values, exacerbates social and political divisions, and will impede progress. What is needed is a new paradigm of socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic growth.
OUR CALL TO ACTION
We believe that now is the time to end the scourge of extreme poverty—by restoring right relationships among people, affirming human dignity, and opening the door to the holistic development of all people. If we were more committed to living these common values there would be less poverty in the world.
Our shared convictions call us to empower and uplift— not denigrate—those living in poverty, so that they can become agents of their own transformation. We must abandon a politics that too often marginalizes their voices, blames them for their condition, and exacerbates extremes of inequality. Now is the time to turn fatigue into renewed commitment, indifference into compassion, cynicism into hope, and impotence into a greater sense of agency that we can and will end extreme poverty by 2030.
We commit to working together to end the scandal of extreme poverty. We will act, advocate, educate, and collaborate, both among ourselves and with broader initiatives. And we commit to holding all levels of leadership accountable—public and private, domestic and international.
Our approach to this staggering need must be holistic, rooted in the spiritual visions of our respective faiths, and built on a shared recognition of the intrinsic dignity and value of every life on Earth.
Realizing this shared goal will require a revolution in social and political will, as well as new innovations and greater collaboration across sectors. We call on international organizations, governments, corporations, civil society, and religious communities, to play their essential parts and join with us in this critical cause.
Poverty’s imprisonment of more than a billion men, women and children must end. Now is the time to boldly act to free the next generation from extreme poverty’s grip.
ENDORSERS*
Actalliance, General Secretary, Dr. John Nduna
American Jewish Committee, International Director of Interreligious Affairs, Chief Rabbi David Rosen
American Jewish World Service, President, Ms. Ruth Messinger
Anglican Alliance, Joint Executive Director, Rev. Rachel Carnegie
Bibliotheca Alexandria, Founding Director, Dr. Ismail Serageldin
Baha’i International Community, Principle Representative to the United Nations, Ms. Bani Dugal
Buddhist Global Relief, Chairperson, Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bread for the World, President, Rev. David Beckmann
Caritas Internationalis, Secretary General, Mr. Michel Roy
Catholic Relief Services, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Carolyn Woo
Church World Service, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rev. John McCullough
Community of Protestant Churches of Europe, President, Rev. Dr. Thomas Wipf
EcoSikh, Board Member, Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli
Forum for Peace in Islamic Societies, President, H.E. Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah
Indigenous People Ancestral Spiritual Council, President, Priestess Beatriz Schulthess
Islamic Relief International, Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Mohamed Ashmawey
Islamic Society of North America, Office of Interfaith & Community Alliances Director, Dr. Sayyid Syeed
Interfaith WASH Alliance, Co-Founder, H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji
Joint Distribution Committee, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Alan Gill
Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, Director, Rabbi Dr. Burt Visotzky
Muhammadiyah, President, Dr. Din Syamsuddin
Organization of African Instituted Churches, General Secretary, Rev. Nicta Lubaale
Religions For Peace, Secretary General, Dr. William Vendley
Rissho Kosei-Kai, President-Designate, Rev. Kosho Niwano
Religious Action Center, Director, Rabbi Jonah Pesner
Sojourners, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rev. Jim Wallis
Salvation Army, General, General Andre Cox
Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, General Secretary, Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne
World Council of Churches, General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit
World Evangelical Alliance, Secretary General and CEO, Bishop Efraim Tendero
World Relief, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Stephan Bauman
World Vision International, President, Mr. Kevin Jenkins
– Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, Grand Mufti, H.E. Sheikh Shaban Ramadhan Mubaje
* For the initial launch we have focused on global faith-inspired organizations. Moving forward more endorsers from countries and regions around the world will be joining the initiative.
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