Friday, 10 September 2010                
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MICAH CHALLENGE: Voices For Justice campaign


Over 300 Australian Christians from all denominations and ages delivered a 40 metre scroll to Parliament as a part of the Micah Challenge Voice for Justice gathering.  This scroll represented over 112,000 Australians who have made a personal commitment to become advocates for the 1.4 billion people, who remain in poverty.
 
National director, John Beckett states that some progress has been made over the past 20 years:  "In 1990, 42% of the world was living in extreme poverty. Today the figure has dropped to 19%. What we do find extremely concerning is that, on close analysis of the 2010 aid budget, there was a decrease in the proportion of Australia’s aid going to health initiatives and no new money to help the poor adapt to climate change. We are coming to Canberra to emphasize the progress that has been made, to call the government to do more and to make sure that our aid reaches the areas where it will have the greatest impact on poverty reduction.”
 
Representatives, including students, retirees, farmers and church leaders, from all states and territories across Australia, converged on Parliament house to join those lobbying justice for the global poor. The campaign was declared a great success, with over 130 members of parliament visited, including former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition leader Tony Abbot, who signed the Micah scroll. Momentum behind the campaign continues to grow throughout Australia. Despite this, it is the action implemented to return Australia’s Foreign Aid to the spotlight which is of the most significance.
 
The Micah Challenge is a world-wide Christian movement of aid and development agencies that includes churches, schools, organisations and individuals who wish to widen their engagement with global communities in order to, influence world leaders, to meet their commitments to the UN Millennium Development goals.
 
For more information visit: www.micahchallenge.org.au.
 

AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY: VIEWPOINT

Stay in touch with current affairs through the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL)'s Viewpoint magazine, which aims to inform and influence policy makers on issues that will be discussed in parliament in the near future, by producing high quality peer reviewed discussion, opinion and analysis of public policy.

In the latest issue:

Greens: Balance of Power?
Federal election pundits are predicting that the Greens will hold the balance of power in the Senate. What are their policies and intentions? Green's leader Senator Bob Brown and ACT-based journalist Angela Shanahan share their thoughts.

Internet Filtering
Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and Geordie Guy, board member of Electronic Frontiers Australia, provide the main arguments for and against internet filtering.

Millennium Development Goals
Tim Costello, CEO Worldvision Australia and Jane Silloway Smith from the Maxim Institute provide different perspectives on whether the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are being effective. Stephen Bradbury, Chairman of Micah Challenge International, asks why it has to be an either/or debate. 

Sexualisation of Culture
Catharine Lumby, Angela Conway and Lisa Brick discuss the Senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children and the difficulties of dealing with sexual ethics and sex education in a pluralistic society.

 

For more information: www.acl.org.au

 
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