Resolution Number: A213
Subject: Millennium Development Goals
Moved by: The Rt. Rev. Philip Poole, Diocese of Toronto
Seconded By: The Ven. Peter Fenty, Diocese of Toronto
Note: The mover and the seconder must be members of the General Synod and be present in the House when the resolution is before the synod for debate.
BE IT RESOLVED:
That this General Synod:
- Request the General Secretary to write to the Prime Minister, reminding him of a previous call from the Anglican Church of Canada on the Government of Canada to deliver and implement a plan to reach the UN target of 0.7% of Gross National Income for Official Development Assistance by 2015, and urgently requesting that budgetary measures be taken toward achieving this target.
- Request the PWRDF and the General Synod through its Partnerships program to:
- Reconsider how the Millennium Development Goals, in light of the attention given them by the wider Anglican Communion at the recent TEAM 2007 Conference, can be used effectively to inform and advance the global development and advocacy work of PWRDF and General Synod throughout the 2007-2010 triennium.
- Participate as appropriate in the Make Poverty History campaign and the Micah Challenge, national and global movements advocating for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
- Explore the possibilities of working in partnership with The Episcopal Church, and with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada to promote the Millennium Development Goals.
- Request the Partners in Mission Committee and the Ecojustice Committee (or their successor) and the PWRDF, in consultation with the Faith Worship and Ministry Committee to:
- Identify theological themes underlying the eight (8) Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and the church’s response to them.
- Determine which of the MDGs should be given priority for advocacy and action within Canada.
- Develop, identify and promote educational resources to raise awareness in Anglican dioceses and parishes about the Millennium Development Goals, and about poverty and development issues in Canada using the framework of the MDGs and other Millenium campaign strategies, especially Make Poverty History and The Micah Challenge.
EXPLANATORY NOTE/BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Millennium Development Goals. During the Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000, all 189 UN Member States adopted the Millennium Declaration which contained a group of goals and targets that have since become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These goals, working together, aim to halve poverty by 2015. In summary, they are:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Create a global partnership for development with a focus on debt, aid and trade.
Canada’s Official Development Assistance. In 2004, General Synod requested the General Secretary to write to the Government of Canada urging Canada to commit to achieve the internationally-agreed UN target of 0.7% of Gross National Income by 2015, with a budgetary plan to increase Canadian Official Development Assistance (ODA) by at least 15% a year up to 2010 and 16% from 2011 to 2015, in order to achieve 0.7% by 2015.
In 2007, the Federal Budget failed to meet its promise to increase funding to address global poverty and failed to meet the guidelines for a budgetary plan identified above by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. The Canadian Council for International Cooperation calculates that Canadian Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2006/07 will be $4.6 billion or 0.33 % of our Gross National Income (GNI), and will remain at $4.6 billion in 2007/08 but fall to 0.32% of our GNI. This is not even half of the UN target of 0.7% to which other donors have committed.
TEAM 2007: Towards Effective Anglican Mission. At the recent TEAM 2007 Conference, held in Boksburg, South Africa from March 7-14, 2007, more than 400 representatives of at least 30 Provinces of the Anglican Communion reviewed the Communion’s response to the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). A seven-person delegation from The Anglican Church of Canada and The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund attended the Conference.
In his opening address to TEAM 2007 delegates, Archbishop Ndungane exclaimed: Bound together by bonds of affection that unite us, and united against poverty, let us seize this opportunity by blowing fresh winds of change into the lungs of the Anglican Communion.
All provinces represented were challenged to develop a theological rationale for supporting the Millennium Development Goals campaign, and to consider the Anglican Church’s unique contribution in each context toward achieving specific goals, such as education, health, gender equality, environmental sustainability, and its distinctive role in addressing conflict as a major impediment to development and poverty reduction.
Millennium Campaign Strategies.
- Make Poverty History is part of a global call to action against poverty, with national campaigns currently active in more than 50 countries. In Canada, Make Poverty Historyis calling for urgent and meaningful policy change towards increased and better development aid, trade justice, cancellation of debt and an end to child poverty.
- The Micah Challenge is a global Christian campaign developed by the Micah Network and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) in response to a groundswell among evangelical Christian churches wanting to contribute at all levels to the alleviation of poverty and to greater justice for poor communities.The aims of the Micah Challenge are to deepen engagement with impoverished and marginalised communities, and to challenge international leaders, and leaders of rich and poor countries, to halve absolute global poverty by 2015.
The Micah Challenge was launched in Canada in October 2004 with the Canadian Council of Churches as a major partner.
Make Poverty History and The Micah Challenge are complementary and mutually supportive campaigns.
- The ONE Episcopalian campaign calls on the U.S. government to spend an additional 1 percent of its budget to combat global poverty. It was endorsed by The Episcopal Church at their General Convention in June 2008 in a resolution that also established achieving the MDGs as a stated mission priority of The Episcopal Church for the next three years.
Source: Partners in Mission Committee
EcoJustice Committee
PWRDF Board
(name of committee, diocese, etc.)
Submitted by: EcoJustice Committee
A) Does this motion contain within it any financial implications?
Yes ______ No ______
B) If yes, has the General Synod Expenditures Committee considered the implications?
Yes ______ No ______