Anti-Poverty Campaigners: Remind Presidential Candidates of Promises to the World’s Poor

A campaign has begun to mobilise millions of Americans to remind President Barack Obama of his Government's promise to help halve world poverty. As America's Presidential election gathers pace, Micah Challenge USA has been set up with a massive plan to help the world achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 – a set of targets to help the poor set by world leaders in 2000. Micah Challenge USA is part of a global Micah Challenge movement in 50 countries.

Campaign organiser Jason Fileta said: "America has been blessed by God and so we have a huge responsibility to the world's poor. We made promises as a Government in 2000. Now is the time to keep our promises. We seek to fight the injustice of extreme economic poverty defined as those living on less that $1.25/day – which is 1.4 Billion people. Poverty of this degree in a world of plenty is a great injustice. Micah Challenge USA is not simply another organization. We are a global movement of individuals, families, churches, communities, organizations, and denominations representing millions of people – many of whom are in extreme poverty."

Micah Challenge's campaign will urge ordinary Christians to use Social Media such as Twitter to remind President Obama and other politicians of their promises to the poor. It will also encourage people to use creative action of marches and petitions to speak up for those without a voice.

Jason added: "There are tens of millions of Christians in America. We aim to join together to fight poverty and injustice and to encourage them to pray, take action, speak out and engage with the issues surrounding poverty, here in the US as well as overseas. Micah Challenge calls us to ensure justice is done, to embrace mercy in our hearts, to be obedient to our Lord. Our advocacy is inspired and informed by our brothers and sisters on the front lines of extreme poverty in Africa, Latin America and Asia."

The challenge at the heart of the Micah Challenge movement is from Micah 6:8 in the Bible which says: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah Challenge is an initiative of the World Evangelical Alliance. For more information, go to www.micahchallenge.org.

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