Stand up and Speak Out
Anti-Poverty Pledge
October 17, 2007
We stand here proudly as members of St. Martin of Tours, which supports the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.
We cannot stay seated when a child born in a poor country today will die thirty years earlier than a child born into a wealthy one – when tens of thousands of people die unnecessarily every day.
And we stand up not because we are asking for charity, but for justice. We know that in our names, world leaders have made mighty promises to bring this to an end. They are called the Millennium Development Goals.
What is needed is the political will to achieve and exceed these goals – so we are on our feet to say:
All:
To the leaders of wealthy countries: Be great. Fight to keep your promises – debt cancellation, more and better aid, and trade rules that help fight poverty. You know what needs to be done. Do it.
We also stand before the leaders of poorer counties to say: Be great. Make it your first responsibility to save the lives of your poorest citizens. We ask you to achieve real transparency and accountability in how your money is spent, to tackle inequality, to root out corruption. You know what needs to be done. Do it.
We wish to set a record for the number of people standing up to demand action on poverty – but the record we really want to break is the world’s record of breaking promises and just ignoring the poor every year for the rest of our lives.
We are six billion voices. We want justice now. No more excuses. We will not stand for them.
Anti-Poverty Pledge
October 17, 2007
We stand here proudly as members of St. Martin of Tours, which supports the Catholic Campaign Against Global Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.
We cannot stay seated when a child born in a poor country today will die thirty years earlier than a child born into a wealthy one – when tens of thousands of people die unnecessarily every day.
And we stand up not because we are asking for charity, but for justice. We know that in our names, world leaders have made mighty promises to bring this to an end. They are called the Millennium Development Goals.
What is needed is the political will to achieve and exceed these goals – so we are on our feet to say:
All:
To the leaders of wealthy countries: Be great. Fight to keep your promises – debt cancellation, more and better aid, and trade rules that help fight poverty. You know what needs to be done. Do it.
We also stand before the leaders of poorer counties to say: Be great. Make it your first responsibility to save the lives of your poorest citizens. We ask you to achieve real transparency and accountability in how your money is spent, to tackle inequality, to root out corruption. You know what needs to be done. Do it.
We wish to set a record for the number of people standing up to demand action on poverty – but the record we really want to break is the world’s record of breaking promises and just ignoring the poor every year for the rest of our lives.
We are six billion voices. We want justice now. No more excuses. We will not stand for them.
For more information, visit Catholic Relief Services at www.crs.org and the U.S. Bishop's Anti-Poverty Campaign at www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa.
No comments:
Post a Comment