Church of England Bishops in the East Midlands are joining the fight against poverty across the globe by giving their backing to the Make Poverty History campaign.

The Bishops of Derby, Southwell, Peterborough, Lincoln and Leicester are photographed wearing the campaign's well publicised symbol, a white armband, signifying they are part of a worldwide effort in 2005 to end extreme poverty.

The Tsunami disaster in Asia has exposed the vulnerability of poor people across the world and the Make Poverty History campaign highlights the startling fact that 30,000 children die needlessly every day from abject poverty and 200,000 people die each week from preventable diseases. The campaign brings together around 150 charities, unions and faith groups to call on Tony Blair and other world leaders to deliver trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid for the world's poorest countries.

The House of Bishops, of which the East Midlands five are part, commended the worldwide response to the plight of those suffering after the Asian Tsunami disaster. They called on governments and international institutions to honour their pledges and help bring about long term transformation for the area.

A House of Bishops statement issued today said: “With poverty claiming a child's life every three seconds, a man-made and preventable disaster on the scale of Tsunami happens every single week. World poverty is sustained not by chance or nature, but by our human failing.”

The Rt Rev'd Jonathan Bailey, Bishop of Derby added: "The timing of this campaign could not be better. One hundred or so mainly voluntary agencies have joined forces, and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer each combine outspoken personal commitment with leading government policy to defeat African and Asian poverty. The unspeakable tragedy in the Indian Ocean has sensitised our consciences and all this comes together in the year when the UK holds the presidencies of G8 and the EU. As we approach a General Election, we, the electorate, can press for a government pledged to Make Poverty History."

Throughout 2005 members of the public will be able to join the campaign through the website www.makepovertyhistory.org which urges people to wear a white band and email political leaders to ask for change.

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For further information please contact:-

Ruth Green
Communications Officer/Bishop's Press Officer
Diocese of Derby
(The Church of England across Derbyshire)
01332 388680

Note to editors:

The full details of the East Midlands bishops are as follows:-

• The Rt Rev'd Jonathan Bailey, Bishop of Derby
• The Rt Rev'd George Cassidy, Bishop of Southwell
• The Rt Rev'd Ian Cundy, Bishop of Peterborough
• The Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee, Bishop of Lincoln
• The Rt Rev'd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester

The full text of the House of Bishops statement follows:

Full text of House of Bishops statement

"As followers of Jesus Christ we are united with countless others in a personal sense of loss and grief for the thousands of lives lost and the millions of livelihoods destroyed by the devastating disaster in Asia. The subsequent international response has highlighted both the fragility of human life and the generosity of the human spirit arising from our common humanity.

The subsequent pledges by governments and international institutions will be crucial for the region's long term reconstruction. These pledges are to be applauded, provided they are honoured and so long as they represent new money rather than the recycling of funds already allocated to existing aid efforts for the poorest parts of our planet. A welcome moratorium on debt repayments for those countries most affected by the tragedy can be no substitute for a comprehensive cancellation of the unpayable debts of all the world’s poorest countries.

Emergency assistance to those in immediate need and debt relief for the poorest needs to be accompanied by a determination on the part of the international community to overcome the systemic barriers, such as the imbalance in international trade, that prevent many countries from realising their full economic potential. Ongoing trade negotiations and the implementation of new trade rules should not compromise the ability of countries affected by the Tsunami from rebuilding their livelihoods. As such aid and debt relief must not be conditional on economic policy reforms such as privatisation, fiscal austerity or trade liberalisation.

The impressive international response to the Tsunami disaster stands in marked contrast to the lack of political will that has so far frustrated the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Progress to date has been woefully inadequate. With poverty claiming a child's life every three seconds, a man-made and preventable disaster on the scale of Tsunami happens every single week. World poverty is sustained not by chance or nature, but by our human failing.

As a member of both the Make Poverty History Coalition and the Trade Justice Movement, we are committed, both as a Church and as individual Christians, to pressing the Government, and the wider international community, to deliver on the commitment made five years ago at the Millennium Development Summit. Increases in aid, whatever the mechanism, will prove insufficient in realising the MDGs, if steps are not also taken to develop an international trading system that allows developing countries to remove trade barriers at a pace and in a way that lies within their own development plans. We recognise that these steps will not always be free trade policies.

We therefore urge the British Government to use its chair of the G8 and its Presidency of the EU to support changes to trade rules that enshrine the right of developing countries to protect their domestic agricultural sectors on the grounds of food security, livelihood security and sustainable rural development. Similarly the Government should press for a phasing out of those EU export subsidies that damage the livelihoods of impoverished rural communities around the world. Developing countries must have the flexibility to put poverty reduction and development ahead of trade liberalisation. Global trade rules and practices must not undercut internationally agreed social and environmental standards, in particular core labour standards.

As with the Jubilee 2000 Campaign, we are committed to mobilising our parishes, deaneries and diocese around key opportunities in 2005, not least the Global Week of Action and the G8 Summit, so that the Government delivers a modern Marshall Plan that tackles the underlying causes of poverty and deprivation. In pressing for such changes we are reminded that our Christian calling demands us to speak out on behalf of those whose voice remains unheard and to challenge unjust structures that keep people poor." (ends)