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Micah Challenge
The Justice and International Mission Unit is an active member of the Micah Challenge and Make Poverty History campaign. Micah Challenge is a Christian campaign is aimed at raising a prophetic and powerful voice for those living in poverty. The Micah Challenge is a campaign derived from the World Evangelical Alliance and the Micah Network.
The Micah Challenge draws its inspiration from the prophet Micah and his call in Micah 6:8 "to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." The Micah Challenge looks both inwards, to deepening Christian commitment to work for and with economically poor communities, and outwards, urging leaders of rich and poor nations to fulfil their public promise to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs aim to halve absolute global poverty by 2015. All 191 member countries of the UN, including Australia, have pledged to achieve the MDGs by 2015. These eight Goals set clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.
In Australia, The Micah Challenge and the 'Make Poverty History' campaigns work closely together and both focus particular attention on the five areas of aid, trade, debt, climate change and corruption. In all three areas the Australian government could be doing more to contribute toward its fair share of helping to achieve the MDGs. For example, since the early 1970s both sides of government have repeatedly agreed at UN Summits to increase Australia's overseas aid giving (ODA) to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI). As of July 2006 our ODA will be only 0.3% of GNI, which is well below the recommended 0.5% to be reached by 2010 if the MDGs are to be achieved. The Netherlands has a similar size population and income to that of Australia, but its ODA is 0.8% of GNI.
The Unit is primarily focusing on encouraging and helping to organise churches of all denominations to visit their local MP to show a consolidated Christian support of the Micah Challenge campaign and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. We have a number of resources available for individuals and congregations to use in relation to the Micah Challenge, including posters, wrist bands, banners, liturgies and multimedia CDs and DVDs.
Contact Mark Zirnsak on (03) 9251 5265 or email mark.zirnsak@victas.uca.org.au to access any of these resources, or to find out more about the campaign. You may also click on the Micah Challenge logo above to be directed to their website, and a copy of the Offering of Letters kit can be found on the right. You may also click on the Make Poverty History band to be directed to their website.
