Bishops put a foot down on poverty

Published: 22 July 2008

The Bishops of Bolton and Middleton will join an unprecedented walk of bishops and other faith leaders through central London on Thursday 24 July, to demonstrate their commitment to help end extreme poverty across the globe.

The bishops will be joined by around 600 archbishops and bishops from across the worldwide Anglican Communion, and their spouses, in the high-profile call on global leaders to keep their promises to deliver the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The walk of solidarity through the capital – led by a banner calling on world leaders to ‘Keep the promise – Halve poverty by 2015’ – will conclude with a rally at Lambeth Palace, the London home and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Announcing the walk, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said, “This walk will be a poignant public act of commitment by the Anglican Communion and other faith groups to continue to put pressure on those who have the power and resources to help end extreme poverty across the globe. It will be about pledging, as a Church, to play our part in continuing to develop lasting solutions. It will also be a walk where we will be in step with those who know at first hand the impact that the unfair distribution of the world’s resources can have on daily living and life opportunities.”

This event will form part of the international backdrop for the UN meeting on 25 September, when the UN Secretary General is hosting a special review on progress towards the goals and the financial commitments from donor countries.

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