A joint initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief Services, an

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A joint initiative of the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Relief
Services, and other national Catholic partners
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Understanding the initiative and
itsopportunities for action
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Part 1 What is this initiative all about?
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• Progress on Reducing Global Poverty
• In 1990 more than 1.8 billion people lived in
  extreme poverty. By 2005 that number had fallen
  to 1.4 billion.
• The proportion of undernourished children
  declined from 33 in 1990 to 26 in 2006.
• 1.6 billion people have gained access to safe
  drinking water since 1990.
• The number of children out of school fell from
  103 million in 1999 to 75 million in 2006.

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• Impact of the Global Economic Crisis
• The global economic crisis is having a
  devastating impact on poor people here at home
  and abroad.
• The progress that has been made could be wiped
  out for decades to come.
• We must act now to confront global poverty and
  protect the poorest, most vulnerable people.

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• The Pope on the Global Economic Crisis
• Through support for economically poor
  countries by means of financial plans inspired by
  solidarity not only can true economic growth be
  generated, but a contribution can be made towards
  sustaining the productive capacities of rich
  countries that risk being compromised by the
  crisis (27).
• Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 2009

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• Global Poverty Today
• An estimated 1.4 billion people live on less than
  1.25 per day.
• More than 140 million children are underweight in
  the developing world.
• Every day, nearly 7,500 people become infected
  with HIV and 5,500 die from AIDS.
• Nearly 1 billion people cannot access safe water
  and over 2.5 billion have no sanitation.

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• Global Poverty Today Hunger
• Life in many poor countries is still
  extremely insecure as a consequence of food
  shortages, and the situation could become worse
  hunger still reaps enormous numbers of victims
  among those who, like Lazarus, are not permitted
  to take their place at the rich man's table
  (27).
• Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, 2009

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• Pope Benedict XVIs 2009
• World Day of Peace Message
• The Christian community must offer. . .
  gestures of creative solidarity, not only by
  giving from one's surplus, but above all by a
  change of life-styles, of models of production
  and consumption, and of the established
  structures of power which today govern
  societies. . .
• Effective means to redress the
  marginalization of the world's poor through
  globalization will only be found if people
  everywhere feel personally outraged by the
  injustices in the world and by the concomitant
  violations of human rights.
• (15, 8)

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• USCCB/CRS launched the global poverty initiative
  on February 23, 2009 at the Catholic Social
  Ministry Gathering.
• The initiatives goal is to engage 1 million
  Catholics nationwide to confront global poverty.

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The Many Faces and Causes of Poverty

• Violence and War
• Globalization
• Global Climate Change
• Migration

• Hunger
• Disease
• Illiteracy
• Powerlessness

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• Hunger stunts growth, makes people more
  vulnerable to disease and robs people of their
  ability to work.

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• Diseases kill, reduce the ability to support a
  family or get an education. Many are
  preventable.

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• Illiteracy wastes human potential, and impedes
  participation in political life and access to
  services.

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• For the poor, a sense of powerlessness can come
  from a denial of participation or an inability to
  participate in the decisions that effect their
  lives.

Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS
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• Violence and war increase poverty and can destroy
  years of human progress and development.

Photo by Burcu Munyas/CRS
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The Many Faces and Causes of Poverty

• Violence and War
• Globalization
• Global Climate Change
• Migration

• Hunger
• Disease
• Illiteracy
• Powerlessness

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• Globalization has generated wealth, but does not
  always reduce poverty and can increase
  inequality. Global trade needs to be made
  fairer.

Photo by CRS staff
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• Global climate change impacts the poor,
  intensifying droughts and storms, and destroying
  crops and homes.

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• Poverty and lack of economic opportunity
  contribute to migration. The rights of migrants
  need protection.

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The Many Faces and Causes of Poverty

• Violence and War
• Globalization
• Global Climate Change
• Migration

• Hunger
• Disease
• Illiteracy
• Powerlessness

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Seven Policy Objectives

• International Assistance
• Debt Relief
• International Trade

• Global Climate Change
• Migration
• Peace
• Extractive Industries

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• Increase international assistance toward 0.7 of
  national income.
• Promote comprehensive international assistance
  reform to make human development and poverty
  reduction the goal.

Photo by Sean Sprague for CRS
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• Finish the agenda of debt relief for poor nations
  so that they can invest in the development of
  their own people.

Photo by Christopher Droeven/CRS
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• Promote reform of U.S. trade and agriculture
  policies to stimulate sustainable development in
  poorer nations.

Photo by Lane Hartill/CRS
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• Address global climate change with a particular
  focus on helping poor countries to mitigate and
  adapt to climate change.

Photo by Andrew McConnell for CRS
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• Address the root causes of migration and promote
  comprehensive immigration reform.

Photo by David Snyder for CRS
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• Support peacebuilding and diplomacy to avoid
  violent conflict.
• Support U.S. contributions to U.N. peacekeeping
  operations to reduce violent conflict.

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• Support transparency, participation and consent
  of local communities in natural resource
  development so that these activities lead to
  integral human development.

Photo by CRS Staf
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Seven Policy Objectives

• International Assistance
• Debt Relief
• International Trade

• Global Climate Change
• Migration
• Peace
• Extractive Industries

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Part 2 How Can We Help Engage Catholics?
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• Resources
• www.usccb.org/globalpoverty or www.crs.org/globalp
  overty
• Prayer
• Educational Resources
• Advocacy Opportunities
• Blog
• Webcasts/teleconferences/speakers
• Charitable Giving

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• Tips for Engaging Catholics
• Use the CCGP initiative as a vehicle to focus
  Catholic attention and action.

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2. Be careful to anchor the whole effort in our
faith. We are members of a universal Church that
is global in scope.
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• Share the principles of Catholic social teaching
  that focus concern on global poverty. Pope
  Benedicts recent encyclical, Caritas in
  Veritate, and the economic crisis offer
  teachable moments.

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Photo by Jim Stipe for CRS
Photo by Sara A. Fajardo/CRS
Photo by Francisca Vigaud-Walsh for CRS

• Tell stories and develop relationships that give
  a face to global poverty, e.g. resettling
  refugees, twinning, CRS speaker tours, returning
  missionaries.

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• Infuse a concern for global poverty into all
  aspects of parish or school life.
• Prayers of the Faithful and Preaching
• Religious Ed, Youth Ministry programs
• Faithsharing groups
• Social Ministries
• Bulletin or newsletter

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• Support collections for CRS, Operation Rice Bowl,
  Church in Africa, Church in Latin America and
  World Mission.
• Remind parishioners that economic choices can
  promote global solidarity, e.g. responsible
  consumers and investors, fair trade
  (www.crsfairtrade.org).

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• Organize opportunities for parishioners to act on
  Action Alerts from CCGP.

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9. Let your faith sustain you. Overcoming
global poverty is a long term effort, not a short
term project.
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• What do we want you to do?
• Spread the word about the initiative help us
  engage one million Catholics!

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• Take the Catholics Confront Global Poverty
  Challenge
• 1. Pray 2. Learn
• Share 4. Advocate
• www.usccb.org/globalpoverty
• www.crs.org/globalpoverty

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• Questions for Discussion
• What are the most effective ways to share the
  Churchs teaching and perspective on global
  poverty?
• As a Catholic what are you prepared to do to
  confront global poverty?