1,000 Christians Gather to Tackle Child Poverty at Annual 'Ecumenical Advocacy Days'
Delegates representing more than 45 million Christians worldwide to address effects of violence, environmental degradation, and globalization
Friday, March 02, 2007
Conference open to media – Interviews with presenters available on request
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fri March 2, 2007– More than 1,000 international human rights advocates and faith leaders will convene March 9-12, 2007, for the fifth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice Conference. This year’s conference, themed “And How Are the Children,” will include workshops, advocacy trainings and a day of lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to press for greater U.S. support for the world’s most vulnerable young people.
The only event of its kind held in the U.S. that gathers national and international faith and grassroots activists, Ecumenical Advocacy Days is representative of the broader movement of people of faith who believe that poverty is a pressing moral issue that must be addressed as a top priority on the U.S. agenda.
The more than 50 co-sponsors of this year’s conference are internationally-known faith-based and policy advocacy organizations, including Church World Service, the National Council of Churches USA and Children's Defense Fund. Organizers hope the conference will contribute to a growing recognition among Americans of all religious backgrounds and political stripes that ending child poverty is an essential element to our nation’s pursuit of the common good.
A host of international speakers will present at plenary sessions and workshops on current crises in the U.S., Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East. Presenters and participants will also focus on specific domestic and global child poverty issues including:
• unaccompanied children crossing the border;
• fixing the No Child Left Behind Act (a special NCLB pre-event will take place March 9);
• dangers of global warming on children now and in the future;
• effects of current Middle East conflict on the region’s children;
• impact of current U.S. security policies on children;
• ill effects of odious debt on African countries and free trade agreements on poor workers and families in Latin America; and
• escalating violence and human rights abuses in Burma and the Philippines.
On Monday March 12, participants will meet with lawmakers to petition greater U.S. support for three key domestic and international issues focused on children, calling for:
• Congressional action in 2007 that ensures affordable, comprehensive, accessible and quality
healthcare for all children living in the U.S.;
• comprehensive, mandatory and aggressive anti-global warming legislation that will protect future
generations; and
• adoption by Congress of new “spending for Peace, Not War” priorities.
WHEN: March 9-12, 2007
WHERE: Doubletree Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.
WHO: Key speakers include:
• Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund
• Chris Hedges, New York Times reporter and author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
• Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, North American President for the World Council of Churches
• Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
• Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA
• The Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr., D.D., Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caloocan, the Philippines
• Ms. Sharon Rose Joy Duremdes, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines
• Francis Ng’ambi, Malawian economist, consultant with the Economic Justice Network of the Fellowship of the Christian Councils in Southern Africa
Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues. For a complete program agenda and list of speakers, visit: http://www.advocacydays.org. For a list of sponsors, visit http://www.advocacydays.org/sponsors.
CONTACT: Katie Barge or John Carey 202- 481-7166 or press@faithinpubliclife.org Michael Neuroth, Ecumenical Advocacy Days, (202) 230-2276, michael_neuroth@hotmail.com
