A Practical Strategy for Congregational Engagement in the Massive Effort Against the Diseases of Poverty

"The international community must rise to the challenge of helping Africa. It is simply unacceptable that while the developed world enjoys unprecedented prosperity, one in seven African children will die before his or her fifth birthday. It is time that politicians and voters in rich countries realized that without a bright future for the poor, the future cannot be bright for the rest of the world" . In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly set the international aid target for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), of which the United States is a member, of 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Product (GNP). Currently the average across all OECD donor nations is 0.39 per cent but across the wealthy G8 countries (excluding Russia) it is 0.19 per cent.

Not only does government need to put more funding into development, but we as a church need to look at our responsibilities to the people of God throughout the world, at how they are living and at what responsibilities we have as individuals and as a church.

Goal:
By 2007, 15 percent of PC (USA) congregations will subscribe to the 0.7 principal. By 2010, the USA will increase its overseas aid budgets to 0.7 per cent of its national wealth (GNP).

Disease and Poverty - "Poverty is the underlying obstacle to human well-being. Despite the unprecedented prosperity and quality of life enjoyed in large parts of the world, 1.2 billion people survive on less than one dollar a day and another 1.3 billion scrape out a living on less than two dollars a day. Being poor is bad for your health. But being ill also reduces your chances of getting out of poverty."

US Blocks Increase in International Aids to Poorer Countries

The US government is blocking an international drive led by Britain to increase aid for the world's poorest countries in the wake of last year's terrorist attacks. With less than two months to go before a crucial UN summit on global poverty in Monterrey, Mexico, US officials are trying to neuter the draft declaration that calls for rich countries to raise the amount they spend on helping the 2.8 billion people who live on less than $2 per day. The conference, which is strongly backed by the chancellor, Gordon Brown, has been called to discuss ways of helping poor countries reduce poverty, cut infant mortality and provide universal primary education. But the US is seeking to delete any mention of the internationally agreed development goals and of the suggestion that rich countries should meet the UN target of spending 0.7% of national income on aid.

Washington is already one of the least generous donors - despite being the world's largest economy - devoting just 0.1% of national output to its international aid effort. Britain and other, more generous donors, had hoped that the renewed US interest in multilateral action during the war on Afghanistan would help bring about a change of heart regarding aid within the Bush administration. In a speech in Washington last December, Gordon brown called on the world's richest countries to double their spending on aid as a part of a global "Marshal plan" for reconstructing not only Afghanistan but the entire developing world. Without a sharp rise in aid budgets, Mr. brown fears the world will fail to meet international goals by 2015.

Some campaigners hoped that this signaled a willingness by western governments to consider radical new measures for raising revenue such as a Tobin tax on foreign exchange transactions or a global carbon tax. But these have been vetoes by the US - even before the latest attempts to water down the draft communiqué.

Aid agencies attending preparations in New York this week for the Monterrey summit report that American officials have described the 0.7% target as an "outdated concept", and that they are pressing for it to be dropped from the final declaration. The American attitude has provoked disquiet among fellow donor countries and outrage among the development charities. It seems the US will only tolerate multi-lateralism a la carte, and development, global redistribution and the interest of the poor are now off the menu," said Henry Northover, a policy adviser at Cafod, the Catholic aid agency.

Instead of discussing increased aid budgets, Washington wants the conference to focus on how poor countries can improve their own economic performance through further market liberalization. The US treasury secretary, Paul O'Neill, is skeptical about the effectiveness of international aid efforts, arguing that the money donated is wasted by corrupt and ineffective governments. In Tokoyo this week at an international conference on rebuilding Afghanistan, Mr. O'Neill warned that support for the interim Afghan government would be withdrawn if donors discovered the money had been misused.

The aid agencies say a proposed campaign to raise public awareness of the targets, led by the UN development program, is opposed by the US - which believes it amounts to an infringement of national sovereignty.

What can we do? - Why should Christian denominations in the USA participate in the 0.7% Christian Initiative?

Recommendations - How can Christians become involved in the 0.7% Initiative? To begin with, make a personal commitment to give 0.7% of your own income towards alleviating the burden of international poverty. Then find other groups of individuals within the church who are also interested in making this commitment.

From the World Bank ...
Development Aid Down to $51.4 Billion

Development aid from the richest nations fell last year despite their commitments to increase assistance longer-term, the Financial times reports.

The development assistance committee of the OECD said on Monday official development assistance from the 22 members fell to $51.4 billion last year from $53.7 billion in 2000, a drop of 1.4 per cent in real terms. The Paris-based inter-governmental body said the decline was partly caused by exchange rate falls against the US dollar. The proportion as a percentage of gross national income remained unchanged at 0.22 percent, against 0.33 per cent in 1990-1992.

The US became the world's largest aid donor last year for the first time in almost 10 years after Japan cut its aid by $4 billion, an 18 per cent drop in real terms. Analysts attributed the shortfall to Japan's economic problems. The fall was offset by rises from European Union states and the US.

The US increased its contribution to $10.9 billion from $9.96 billion but is still at the bottom of the table in terms of aid given as a proportion of gross national income. This rose from 0.1 per cent to 0.11 per cent, mainly because of a $600 million special payment to Pakistan for economic support after September 11.

Also reporting, Dow Jones notes the OECD holds its yearly ministerial gathering in May that includes a high-level meeting of its development assistance committee.

DAC director, Michael Roeskau, said the meeting -attended by many trade ministers and development aid directors -is well timed because it follows the Monterrey conference on financing for international development in March and should reinforce its conclusions. At the meeting in Mexico richer countries undertook to put in place new assistance programs which would raise their aid contributions to 0.24 per cent of gross national income by 2006, assuming real GNI growth of 2.5 per cent a year, according to the OECD.

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, recently established with the strong support of the Secretary General Kofi Annan, is an attempt to expand resources available to governments, national agencies, and community-based organizations to address the major infectious causes of mortality in developing countries, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Global Fund Board has recommended that Coordinated Country Mechanisms (CCM) be established in each country as the structure through which country proposals are submitted for their review. Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) are major stakeholders in the worldwide effort to reduce morbidity and mortality related to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. These organizations are subsequently eligible to apply for funding from the Global Fund. The Global Fund Responsiveness to Faith-Based Organizations survey was organized by the Christian Connections for International Health and the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network in order to assess the participation of Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) in the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) and inclusion in the country proposals.

PC(USA) International Health Ministries Office, arranged for the collation and analysis of the findings of round one of the survey. The report concludes that many Christian organizations want to relate to the Global Fund. In some countries, faith-based organizations did participate. In many countries, collaboration with government officials controlling access to the Fund was not satisfactory.

The 10-page report, entitled GLOBAL FUND RESPONSIVENESS TO FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS, can be found on our website, www.pcusa.org. It was given to all 18 members of Global Fund board of directors. The survey shows that:

1. For many reasons, there is a general lack of knowledge about the Global Fund among Faith-Based Organizations (FBO).
2. The FBOs that are aware of the Global Fund are generally not satisfied with the degree to which they are able to participate in the Coordinated Country Mechanisms (CCM)
3. Government attitudes toward Faith?Based Organizations make a difference.
4. Faith-based organizations are very interested in working with their Country Coordinating Mechanisms and the Global Fund to maximize their potential contribution in the struggle against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

CCIH organized seminars last month in Washington and New York with Dr. Christoph Benn, the member of the Global Fund board of directors representing northern NGOs, to explore how faith-based organizations could best take advantage of the Fund. The GLOBAL FUND RESPONSIVENESS TO FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS report was discussed during those seminars. Dr.Benn concluded that in most situations, FBOs will need to continue to work through the Country Coordinating Mechanism. It will be important to continue to monitor and facilitate the involvement of faith?based organizations in that process.

For the full report, click here.

For the latest information on the World Health Organization - Campaign Against the Diseases of Poverty, click here."