Thoughts on the MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals were formed in 2000 by the UN.  Their end date is in 2015.  Still lots to accomplish but a lot has also been done.

Some thoughts on the MDGs (from a few years ago)...

M.D.G.’s for Beginners ... and Finishers  By BONO (NY Times)

We have a lot to prove, but if the M.D.G. agreement had not been made in 2000, much less would have happened than has happened. Already, we’ve seen transformative results for millions of people whose lives are shaped by the priorities of people they will never know or meet...

Joining God's mission, Achieving the MDGs: Why should we care? By Ian T. Douglas (ENS)

And here is where the church, the body of Christ generally and the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in particular, can play an incredibly important role in the movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Being faithful to the call to God's mission, effecting God's shalom, is what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus. The MDGs offer a concrete invitation to get on with what God wants us to be about; to join with sisters in brothers in Christ, with people of other faiths, with wider global civil society to be about the repair of the world.

As Anglicans – members of a family of 38 regional or national churches in 164 countries with close to 80 million members – we are part of one of the single best networks to foster and advance the movement to achieve the MDGs. Government, academic and cultural leaders have recognized the key leadership opportunity of churches and of the Anglican Communion in particular.

The movement is not about a single quick fix, done today and forgotten tomorrow. It's about building a movement of God's people in response to the missio Dei. So as Christians, as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we have a key role to play in the shalom movement of the MDGs. Let's be about it.