Washington, DC — As world leaders convened in New York for the UN World Summit in New York earlier this month, influential religious leaders from around the world met last weekend to discuss the faith community's role in alleviating poverty and pushing for increases in development aid. The Center for Justice and Reconciliation at Washington National Cathedral hosted a global Consultation of Religious Leaders on Global Poverty, a multi-denominational discussion organized by South African Archbishop Njongonkulu Winston Hugh Ndungane. Attendees discussed sustainable development, aid monitoring, and interfaith alliances, and the meeting featured Jeffrey Sachs, Madeleine Albright, and eight high-ranking African faith leaders among other participants.
After the three-day meeting, a communiqué was produced affirming the Millennium Development Goals and outlining concrete steps for Christian churches to increase collaboration and improve the effectiveness of their work in their home countries. Archbishop Ndungane spoke with AllAfrica's Tali Trigg about the consultation.
What role do you see religion and spirituality playing in poverty reduction and sustainable development?
First, communities are concerned about people. Where there are people, we are there as faith communities and amongst our membership are people who are poor. We are there to represent and articulate the voices of the poor who are with us and who are poor. Secondly, faith communities have for a long time, and continue to do so, be involved in development issues in education, health care, social services, and also in spiritual matters. We deal holistically with the whole issue of development. It is our desire and our wish that everyone created in God's image with dignity and intrinsic worth should have everything that is essential to human living, such as access to clean water, shelter, clothing, health care and to education. That is our mandate, our God-given mandate, as stewards of God's creation.
So you see an intersection of religion and the global human rights?
I think that this is one agenda [human rights] because we are God's creatures created by God. Each individual is created with dignity and worth and therefore each human being has a right to all that is essential for human living.
Many international initiatives focusing on Africa this year have gotten a lot of attention. What are you thoughts on these developments?
There has been tremendous movement by the world community in terms of the welfare of humanity beginning with Jubilee 2000. We, civil society faith communities, put the agenda of debt cancellation before the G8. Since then there has been a groundswell of movements in terms of various bodies that have come up: the One campaign, the Micro Challenge, Make Poverty History, etc. Because the world community has come to commit themselves for the well-being of human beings, it is morally wrong, and in fact sinful, that in a world where there is surplus, where there is plenty, which God has provided for our needs, there are millions of people who go hungry. There has been that groundswell of opinion. Jubilee 2000 was a leader in the whole question of debt cancellation.
There has been the whole question of aid. In themselves, debt cancellation and aid are alright, but at the end of the day, what we are calling for is trade justice because that is what will guarantee sustainable livelihoods in Africa. You see that countries spend something like $300 billion protecting their trade through subsidies and tariffs. Yet if Africa's exports could increase by 1 percent that could yield $17 billion, which is five times the money they get in aid. In any event, it would increase and contribute to the worth and dignity of people.
On the subject of trade, are you asking anything specific from the U.S. on trade issues in relation to the World Summit?
I think we are addressing the [whole] world leadership in terms of fair trade and the WTO; the Doha round in December is going to address these issues in December. Ehat we are calling for is fair trade, not free trade. We're calling for trade justice. Those are the instruments we're addressing.
Some analysts are saying that the World Summit represents the mid-point of the MDGs and that if serious action doesn't take place now, the goals will simply not be met. How far do you think Africa has come along and what is the way forward?
The main part is to keep the momentum going. It is in that regard that I have set up some initiatives and some discussions on the establishment of an independent African monitor which will do a couple of things. First of all, [it will] monitor the commitments of the developed world, in terms of what they actually put in the bank. Secondly, it will look at the recipient governments in Africa; what do they actually receive. Thirdly, on the ground, [does] it makes a difference? Faith communities and civil societies are actually on the ground and this particular monitor will be driven by faith communities. That is the first major area that I see this monitor [working in].
The second one is to keep the agenda going, to keep the momentum. We have these waves of things and next year people are going to be saying that we had this hype on this thing, and it's now gone before our eyes. I think this monitor is going to keep the focus on Africa and even garner from Africa what African people determine as their priorities, to be put in front of the world forces. In other words, it's a monitor that'll keep the momentum, in partnership with various networks including the faith communities of the North. It'll be keeping the agenda of Africa so that we can move forward and progress.
Are you actually then setting up an organization...
Not an organization, but a mechanism. What is happening is that each of the donor countries and multilaterals have ways of monitoring and what is being conceptualized now is that we need something that is home-grown in Africa whereby an independent body will address the needs of Africa and monitor progress in terms of what actually happens, what difference does [aid] make, does it add value? So much money has gone to Africa and sometimes you don't see where it's going. But this particular mechanism is going to be able to facilitate through indicators for us to do some measurements of what has been achieved.
As you mentioned, civil society groups have done a lot to raise the profile of Africa and to advance progress in the region. What do you see as the role of so-called South-South cooperation?
Those are creative partnerships that we need to do. I think that good initiatives have been taken by civil society organizations in the North but there's been no reciprocal initiative that comes from Africa. I think that we want to be creative in that sense and also spread across in terms of the formations in the South. There have been meetings taking place -- Porto Allegro [Brazil] for instance -- in terms of civil society organizations looking at world issues. But I think that we're adding on another particular mechanism with a particular focus to network with these other bodies.
Switching our focus to your country, what is the situation of South Africa in relation to the MDGs? Recently officials stated that South Africa was going to attain the MDGs...
One of the things that this mechanism I'm talking about will be able to do is to enable us from an independent perspective to evaluate how development is being realized on these particular issues and also, to reflect some good new stories and to challenge where there is not good delivery and good governance.
How important do you believe the media image of Africa is in relation to actual progress?
Africa is the cradle of humanity. Behind everybody's skin in the world we are all Africans. That's an important fact. We live in a world where we are interdependent and there's mutual interdependence. Thus, we need to see to it that every part of this globe has sustainable livelihoods for everyone and Africa is a very important continent, which has been at the receiving end, which is at the epicenter and therefore I think that we need to be able to rise up from that position and be able to take our rightful place amongst the nations of the world.
On the issue of Zimbabwe, which you have been personally involved in, do you believe that a problem of governance in one country can attract more attention than all the progress in the whole region?
We are all concerned about Zimbabwe. Our president has been very much involved and we as the Council of Churches in South Africa have been very much involved. We are concerned in terms of the well-being of Zimbabweans and the people of Zimbabwe. We would like to see everything going well there. I believe in the politics of this administration and I believe that at some stage the penny will drop and reason will prevail.
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To get back to the global consultation, it is, if I understand it correctly, a multi-denominational consultation?
Yes.
How important do see bringing in all denominations and religions and using this partnership for development?
In this particular context we've got observers from other faiths. But not so long ago I was in this cathedral where I preached at a gathering of all religions, all major religions here in the United States who, in spite of their differences, nevertheless are united on one issue, which is end hunger now. I think that there are issues of profound importance where we say that they're too big for a divided people and then we come together to work towards those. I think that the eradication of poverty and the ending of hunger are the major issues that are facing us and we cooperate with one another for the good of all.
That's very interesting considering religion is often portrayed as being divisive. But you seem to be saying that the commonalities between religions can instead be used for good?
Definitely. I think that diversity is creative diversity. I think that we recognize that even within the Christian family, even within the Anglican family, there is diversity and I think that it is as we look to what binds us together and build on that for the well-being of humanity and the world.
Are there any last thoughts you'd like to convey regarding the consultation?
I think that what has brought us together is the gospel imperative. That the God of love, the God of mercy and the God of compassion who calls us to be heralds of his compassion, and mirrors of his mercy, urges us to do something on this urgent issue of the day: eradication of poverty. It is scandalous that in a world where there's been unprecedented economic growth, on the one hand, and then on the other, millions of people who don't know where they'll get a meal at the end of the day. It is that moral imperative that drives us to seek the well-being of humanity, because our God is a God of love who cares deeply for humanity and the world he's created.
