| Bishop of Warwick Puts his Foot Down! | 21st Jul 2008 | Download | Email to a Friend |
The Rt Revd John Stroyan, Bishop of Warwick is to join Archbishop of Canterbury in putting a foot down on poverty.
The Bishop of Warwick will join an unprecedented walk of bishops and other faith leaders through central London on Thursday 24th July, to demonstrate their commitment to help end extreme poverty across the globe.
He will be joined by around 600 archbishops and bishops from across the worldwide Anglican Communion, and their spouses, in the high-profile call on global leaders to keep their promises to deliver the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The walk of solidarity through the capital – led by a banner calling on world leaders to ‘Keep the promise – Halve poverty by 2015’ – will conclude with a rally at Lambeth Palace, the London home and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Announcing the walk, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said: “Faith leaders and our communities are active across the world as advocates for the poor and vulnerable in our midst. Faith groups often have the best service delivery networks in the very places which the international agencies find hardest to reach.”
“This walk will be a poignant public act of commitment by the Anglican Communion and other faith groups to continue to put pressure on those who have the power and resources to help end extreme poverty across the globe. It will be about pledging, as a Church, to play our part in continuing to develop lasting solutions. It will also be a walk where we will be in step with those who know at first hand the impact that the unfair distribution of the world’s resources can have on daily living and life opportunities.”
The bishops will walk through the heart of the capital – on a route that passes famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament – in a vivid demonstration of the diversity of the Anglican Communion and as a witness to the work already being conducted by Churches and other faith groups to support the MDGs, and a public pledge to work harder to make sure they are delivered. The faith leaders will also call on their respective governments to ensure that funding promises are met, and the right policies put in place, to make a real difference to local communities across the world.
The event is being organised in partnership with Micah Challenge UK, part of the international Micah Challenge movement dedicated to uniting Christians to work together for an end to world poverty.
The walk is part of a growing movement by faith groups across the globe to raise awareness of the MDGs and the need to step up pressure on governments to honour their spending commitments towards the UN goals on education, diseases, hunger and child health.
In addition to the organisational partnership with Micah Challenge UK, the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) is also supporting the event as part of the UK’s MDG ‘Call to Action’ to accelerate progress to deliver the MDGs.
The July event will form part of the international backdrop for the UN meeting on 25th September, when the UN Secretary General is hosting a special review on progress towards the goals and the financial commitments from donor countries.
ends
For further information, please contact Ben Wilson at the Church of England Communications Office, telephone (020) 7898 1326.
Notes to editors
The Lambeth Conference is one of the global Anglican Communion's ‘Instruments of Communion’ and takes place
Revd Canon Mervyn Roberts
Director of Communications
Coventry Diocese
01926 426922
mervyn.roberts@covcofe.org
www.coventry.anglican.org