Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Caritas Internationalis general assembly to parallel G8 summit

The 18th general assembly of Caritas Internationalis meeting in Rome from 3-9 June will parallel the annual Group of Eight summit in Germany, but will tell a different tale, said the Catholic aid organisation's secretary-general, Duncan MacLaren. "The Caritas general assembly and the G8 will be more than a tale of two summits, they will be a tale of two worlds. On one hand, you have the leaders representing the interests of the world's rich countries with a combined gross domestic product of over $30 trillion. On the other hand, you have representatives of civil society working for the world's 3 billion people living on less than $1 a day."

MacLaren said that "G8 leaders must live up to their promises on aid." He added that "there is backsliding with the commitments made" two years ago at the summit held in Gleneagles, Scotland. "Caritas wants G-8 countries to deliver on promises to increase aid to 0.7% of national income, and to ensure that aid is used effectively to end poverty. Millions of the poor will suffer as a consequence of these broken promises," he added. – Keynote speakers for the Caritas meeting will include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai and president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Renato Martino.

Meanwhile, catholic church leaders from some of the world’s poorest countries are touring European capitals this week to call on the world’s richest countries to keep promises on aid at the next G8 summit. The tour is part of an international catholic campaign, Make Aid Work. The World Can't Wait, calling on G8 governments to increase aid and ensure it effectively targets poverty. The delegates include Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegulcigapa, Honduras, Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria, Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi, India, and Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. They met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Monday, and will meet the German President Horst Köhler in Berlin on Wednesday, and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Thursday. The tour will end with a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday.

Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja said, “The G8 governments have no mandate for global governance, yet their decisions affect millions of poor people. They have a responsibility to ensure that their policies guide the world towards human and environmental development.” The campaign is organised by the two international networks of Catholic development organisations - CIDSE and Caritas Internationalis.