Thursday 25 February 2010

1.4 billion reasons

Yesterday Steve and I attended the UK Churches’ launch of the Global Poverty Project (GPP) at St Paul’s Cathedral.

GPP is an initiative which started in Australia and is now spreading around the world. It is designed to help raise awareness and encourage action to eliminate extreme poverty and support the Millennium Development Goals.

The event was part of the St Paul’s Institute series, and was addressed by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, and the Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander MP.

GPP are working with Micah Challenge UK to dedicate a day of prayer for the Millennium Development Goals on 10 October 2010 (10/10/10). GPP are also happy to come to churches or community meetings to give a presentation about the situation for the 1.4 billion people who live in extreme poverty and have some ideas about what people living in developed countries can do.

This is such a great idea and it helps to build on the hard work of so many Christians five years ago during the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY movement. There is still a long way to go, but the GPP gives us reasons why we should be optimistic that the eradication of extreme poverty within a generation is an achievable goal.