MGD - and not the beer!

October 15, 2007
Why the Millennium Development Goals, at midpoint, have never been so urgent
by Robert Roth


In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.--Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 7: 12)

All creatures are words of God -- All creatures may echo God in all their activities. It is, of course, just a small bit which they can reveal. --Meister Eckhart, 14th Century Christian mystic

It is God whom human beings know in every creature.--Hildegarde of Bingen, 12th Century preacher, theologian, and medical writer

Imago Dei: All are created in the image of God
With one flush of my toilet, I will use the amount of water my sister or brother in the developing world has available for washing, drinking, bathing, and cooking for an entire day. By world standards, I am rich. In the United States, over US$6,000 is spent each year per person on health care. In sub-Saharan Africa, it is US$20 or less. In a world where 20,000 to 25,000 people will die today from poverty, my country is indeed very, very rich.

So, I begin in confession. Though I have long believed that every person on every continent is created in the image of God, (taking my core understanding from Genesis 1), only in recent years have I truly seen and responded in faith to the urgency of global poverty, the catastrophe of AIDS and malaria, and the extraordinary degradation of the Earth. Just three years ago, I began to see clearly the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a measure of faith.

Those wonderfully quantifiable and hope-inspiring MDGs, agreed to by the nations of the world at the United Nations-sponsored Millennium Summit in 2000, point to the living out of the very love and compassion promoted by Christian ethics. Seeing the sacredness of each person can motivate us to confess our greed and inactivity and then to work for these goals. In their accomplishment, even in their progress, we find the good news of the Christian Gospel being lived and celebrated.

The Millennium Development Goals call for measurable progress in eliminating extreme poverty (people living on a dollar a day or less), establishing universal primary education, advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women, decreasing child mortality, increasing maternal health, fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, securing environmental sustainability, and creating a global partnership for development.

Compassion, Human Rights and Justice
How central is all of this to our Christian faith? Our faith is rooted in the sacredness of life and the conviction that God has taken human form and dwelt among us. Taken together, Genesis 1 and Matthew 1 bring us to the heart of the MDGs: every person on every continent in every city or village is sacred. Each of us, created in the image of God, have ethical obligations that come to us from a God who has walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ.

A Christ-centered faith recognizes Christmas as a celebration of the inherent dignity of each person and the blessedness of all creation. This profound focus on human dignity empowers Christian ethics that play out in the full complement of human rights for all. It begins in what we have called 'mercy,' but 'compassion' might be a better word in our day. The former can sometimes suggest pity, even condescension, while the latter is rooted in celebrating another's joy and suffering with others because we are all related. We are all in this together.

Imago Dei: All are Created in the Image of God
The crisis of global poverty calls us to move from compassion to a justice grounded in human rights. It will not be enough to redress past wrongs, striving to 'get even.' Beginning and ending in the realization of the imago dei (again, the image of God in each person), we see the holiness of the child in Ethiopia and the old woman in India, responding as though our very relationship with God depended on our commitments and action. When human dignity drives our movement toward social holiness, we can truly see that little one as the Christ child and that woman as our own mother. In his classic volume, Love, Power, and Justice, theologian Paul Tillich made clear the ethical obligations of what he called "creative justice:" "It belongs to the right of everyone whom we encounter to demand something from us, at least that even in the most impersonal relations the other one is acknowledged as a person." This echoes our Christian scriptures -- the Golden Rule -- and, essentially the scriptures of major world religions, as well as the philosopher Immanuel Kant, when he said, "Act, so as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or that of another, always as an end, and never as a means only."

The Millennium Development Goals in 2007
Let us walk through the eight goals, reminded of scriptural touch points that can strengthen our support of the MDGs as a faith response. Knowing the danger of taking a scripture verse out of context, the reader will be trusted to further "search the scriptures" for broader understanding of the biblical, theological and ethical implications of the MDGs. Following the statement of each MDG, an update is given on its progress, based on the Millennium Development Goals Report 2007, released by the U.N. on July 2. After each update, a suggested reflection or a question for discussion is offered. The MDGs are 15-year goals, so we are now at just about the mid-point.

GOAL 1: ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1: 27)

There has been progress toward the target of halving the percentage of people in extreme poverty (living on the equivalent of US$1 per day) between 2000 and 2015. From 1990 to 2004, it dropped from 32 percent (1.25 billion) to 19 percent (980 million). Sub-Saharan Africa's poverty rate has declined by six percent since 2000. Of the six billion people in the world today, nearly a billion are still in extreme poverty and another are in poverty (US$2 per day). This suggests that people of faith in the rich world have yet to make this issue "and a recognition that each person is created by God in God's image" a priority. One percent of the wealth of the rich nations would achieve this MDG, as well as the other seven goals. (Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, economist and special advisor to the U.N. Secretary General on the MDGs, demonstrates this point in his book The End of Poverty as well as in the July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair.) What will it take for us to share 1% of our wealth?

GOAL 2: ACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATION

And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2: 52)

As completion of primary schooling for all boys and girls is the 2015 target, progress from 80 percent in 1991 to 88 percent in 2005 is certainly to be celebrated. As with many of these goals, greater gains in Asia stand in stark contrast to frustrated efforts and decline in large parts of Africa. Picture a child in Ethiopia, a child in China, and a desperately poor child in rural Brazil. Consider your image of Jesus at that same age. Imagine Jesus is that child, opening your heart and mind to the possibilities for the months and years ahead.

GOAL 3: PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMEN

But let justice role down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5: 24)

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a United Methodist, became Africa's first elected female head of state when she was inaugurated president of Liberia on January 16, 2006. This is a tremendous symbol of hope amidst extremely mixed results toward the target: "Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education and at all levels of education no later than 2015." The U.N.'s 2007 MDG Report cites slow overall progress for women. Why do you think this might be the case in the developing world?

GOAL 4: REDUCE CHILD MORTALITY

...but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." (Matthew 19: 14)

The MDG Report of 2007 said: "Child mortality has declined worldwide, in large part because of effective and inexpensive interventions to save children from such threats as measles." There has also been a major expansion of key interventions to fight malaria. However, the sad update overall for this goal is that reducing the mortality rate for under-fives by two-thirds (the 2015 target) is still far off.
Think about -- and, if possible, talk about -- how economic, political and medical issues can be seen as spiritual issues as well.

GOAL 5: IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH

She had heard about Jesus...Immediately, her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (Mark 5: 27, 29)

Over 500,000 women are still dying annually from preventable and treatable complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Every year, 500,000 more! We have the resources, but not yet the will, to end this. God help us. A "Christian" can be defined as either "one who follows Jesus and/or one who is Christ-like." If we see Jesus as a healer, how incumbent is it upon all Christians to find their places in the great works of healing in our day?

GOAL 6: COMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASES

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit...to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healing by the one Spirit. (I Corinthians 12: 9)

Is the reduction in deaths caused by or related to HIV/AIDS -- from 2.9 million in 2001 to 2.2 million in 2006 -- a reason to celebrate? Yes and no, especially as we consider the 15 million children around the world who have lost to HIV/AIDS one or both parents. How do the large, even astonishing numbers in an MDG like this one, motivate or paralyze our movement toward real action?

GOAL 7: ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

God saw everything that he had made, and in deed, it was very good. (Genesis 1: 31)

Finally, the last holdouts among political leaders are admitting that global climate change from human pollution is a reality. Rising greenhouse gas emissions from automobile exhaust pipes and factory smokestacks are causing elevated temperatures, melting polar ice caps, and adding to the list of endangered species. Policies -- such as Congressional guidelines on fuel standards and White House acknowledgement of the reality of climate change in the United States -- are beginning to change. We must remember: the world's poor suffer the greatest consequences from all forms of environmental degradation. Read all of Genesis 1 as an environmental ethic. What would it take to become a responsible steward of creation? Reflect, pray, discuss.

GOAL 8: DEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENT

"From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." (Luke 12: 41)

The MDG Report 2007 found that efforts to meet the target of establishing "an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system" have been disappointing to date. While foreign debts by developing nations continue to be high, and those contracted even under onerous conditions remain, thanks to campaigns by non-governmental organizations calling for freedom from these debts, as well as some visible steps by creditor nations to lighten the pressure on borrower nations to repay. What percent of a poor country's annual budget do you believe should go to paying for debts incurred under onerous arrangements or during previous corrupt and often dictatorial regimes? Should the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, or other global financial institutions profit from loans to the poorest countries even when the principal of their loans has been paid? Why or why not?

The Bucks Start Here

A faithful global church must educate and advocate effectively -- until the Millennium Development Goals are accomplished. The direct ministries of food, medicine, and technology sharing are not enough. We must be willing to engage in legislative advocacy and other forms of public witness in and through governments and in partnership with other non-governmental organizations at the local, national, regional and international levels.

At the Millennium Summit in 2000, at the 2002 Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development, and at the 2005 World Summit, rich nations committed to devote 0.7 percent of their Gross National Income (that is seven-tenths of one percent) to the achievement of the MDGs. To date, only Denmark, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway have met the 0.7 commitment. England and France are at about 0.5 and the United States, nearly last among developed countries, is at about 0.2.

"Either you decide to leave people to die or you do something about it," says Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, in speech after speech. Asked recently why he works at the MDGs night and day, Sachs respond with the simple clarity we must instill in our churches: "If you hadn't noticed, people are dying. It's an emergency."

In the MDG Report 2007, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says that "Success in some countries demonstrates that rapid and large-scale progress towards the MDGs is feasible if we combine strong government leadership, good policies and practical strategies for scaling up public investments in vital areas with adequate financial and technical support from the international community -- (however) the lack of any significant increase in Official Development Assistance since 2004 makes it impossible, even for well-governed countries, to meet the MDGs."

The bad news: total aid from the rich countries declined in real terms by 5.1 percent between 2005 and 2006. Therefore, as Dr. Sachs told the General Assembly of the United Nations in November of 2006, "millions of people die every year for the stupid reason they are too poor to stay alive." In that same speech, Sachs also said, with his usual blunt clarity: "this is a plight we can end."

The Good News: people of faith and goodwill know what needs to be done, have the resources to do it, and worship a God who dwells among us, promising to empower us and bless us until God's will is accomplished. Jesus Christ "is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word." (Hebrews 1:3).

Learn & Speak Out, Learn & Take Action
Most of us are able to learn a great deal about global poverty and the MDGs in a fairly short amount of time. Though we strive to be life-long learners, there is no need to become experts before we speak out and take action.
Here are some places to begin:
(1) The MDGs on the United Nations website: www.un.org/millenniumgoals.
(2) The United Nations Association of the USA magazine and website: www.unausa.org; The Interdependent, 801 Second Avenue, NY, NY 10017. A one-year subscription is $12; one-year institutional subscription is $10.50; and a membership in the UNA of the USA (including magazine) is $25.
(3) The United Methodist Office for the United Nations, a joint ministry of the General Board of Church and Society (www.umc-gbcs.org/un) and the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, both of The United Methodist Church, has produced resource materials on the MDGs, including previous issues of this newsletter pers.pec.tives. Last year's focus on HIV/AIDS can be found at www.umc-gbcs.org/unsunday.
(4) Express and mobilize support for H.R. 1302 otherwise known as the Global Poverty Act so that it becomes a law in the United States. This bill was passed on September 25, 2007 in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is time for the U.S. Senate to do the same. This important legislation, if passed, will "require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day." For the text of the bill, go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1302.(5) The One Campaign for the achievement of the MDGs: www.ONE.org
(6) The End of Poverty, a book by Jeffrey Sachs, now in paperback. See also an excellent feature story on Jeffrey Sachs in the July 2007 issue of Vanity Fair at your library or online, which was an excellent theme issue all about Africa and co-edited by U2's Bono! Yes, Vanity Fair!
(7) For a focus on child-related MDGs, visit http://www.unicef.org/statistics/index_24304.html. Use information from this website can be use in preparing participation in Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. Visit http://www.unicefusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=hkIXLdMRJtE&b=1706865.(8) Order wallet-sized listing of the MDGs calling on United Methodists to ?stand firmly on the holy ground of hope? and to ?build the moral and political will to eradicate extreme poverty. Call GBCS at +1. 202.488.5600 or visit the GBCS Online Store at www.umc-gbcs.org.

For more resources on the United Nations and information about the United Nations and international affairs ministry of GBCS and the United Methodist Church, call Rev. Liberato Bautista, Asst. General Secretary, at tel: +1.212.682.3633, fax:+1.212.682.5354 or email him at LBautista@umc-gbcs.org.

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*Robert Roth (B.A., Michigan State University; M.Div., Duke University) is a writer, social activist, and clergy member of the West Michigan Annual Conference. A former columnist for Sojourners magazine and the Michigan Christian Advocate, Roth has written three books, most recently Answering God?s Call For Your Life : A Look At Christian Calls and Church Vocations (2006, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the United Methodist Church, available at www.cokesbury.com). In 2004 and 2005, as a member of the Isaiah Circle of GBCS UN Advocates, he was a United Methodist delegate to the DPI-NGO Annual Conference at the United Nations.


Date: 10/15/2007