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Keynote Address It is a great joy to be with you on the eve of National Hunger Awareness Day. Thank you for your invitation. It is a privilege to be here among so many leaders from the different faith communities. And thank you also, Bishop Frank, for your introduction. In the Book of the Revelation to John, at the end of the Christian Scriptures, there is a picture of heaven in which there is a great multitude, too numerous to count. They come from every tribe and nation, every people, every culture, every language. And it is promised: Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The promise of heaven is “no more hunger.” But the message of all our readings is that the plight of the hungry must not be left to heaven. It is to be our concern as God’s instruments in his world. As the verses from the Koran reminded us, virtually every religious and ethical tradition calls us to feed the hungry. The shocking statistics demonstrate that hunger is far more wide spread than you might at first imagine. It is a profound irony that there is extensive hunger and poverty in this country, the world’s richest nation. Despite this country’s enormous wealth, there are 36 million people in the United States who are food insecure. That is 36 million people who some or all of the time do not know where their next meal is coming from. Of them, almost 13 million are children. Hunger in the U.S. has been on the rise for the last four years, according to federal government reports. Private food suppliers struggle to meet this increase in hungry people. America’s Second Harvest, the nation’s food bank network, reports that in 2001, 23.3 million people turned to the agencies they serve, an increase of over 2 million since 1997. And 40% of these were from families who work. Latest federal figures show that in 2003, 12.5% of the U.S. population was poor, up from 12.1% a year before. This means that in those twelve months an additional 1.3 million people actually became poor. We acknowledge that the federal government’s nutrition programs provide about 20 times more food assistance than charities. Yet, with such need, proposals in the current budget debates to cut these programs and deprive hundreds of thousands of working families of food support cannot be justified! And must be opposed. The global picture is also shocking. For 30 years global hunger was falling. But it is now rising again. Between 1999 and 2002 it increased by over 10 million people. Now 852 million people face hunger every day. How can hunger be so wide spread when there is such growth in the global economy? How can there be such vast need in a country like the United States? The Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartia Senn has pointed out that hunger is not caused by food shortages. Indeed, often it happens when food is abundant. Hunger arises when people become economically alienated, unable adequately to participate in the buying and selling of labor, goods and services, so as to be able to access enough to eat. This is why poverty and hunger are often found in rural areas. People may live in the midst of acres of fertile food production, but if the nearest grocery store is 10, 20 or even 30 miles away, then for those without access to affordable transport, they might as well be living in a barren desert. On the international front there are other factors at play, some of which also challenge the policies of the U.S. government. Trade policies are still geared far too much to the advantage of the rich, and make it far harder for poor countries and their populations to escape poverty. Of this we can be sure—that poverty that brings hunger is evil in all its ramifications and consequences. It mars the image of God within humanity. It mars the image of God in the poor as it deprives them of opportunities for abundant life. It mars the image of God within those of us who have more than enough, but who through greed, complacency, or even ignorance fail to do the justice to embrace the loving kindness that our God asks of us. I have personally seen too much of the facts of poverty and hunger in my life. As has been said by Bishop Frank, as a young man I spent three years as a political prisoner on Robben Island. And Robben Island was hell on earth. I know what it is to be hungry in the midst of plenty. I know what it is to be thirsty. Yet it was in those conditions of inhuman brutality and degradation that the God of surprises called me to serve him in the ordained ministry. And it was there that so many of today’s leaders in my country deepened their faith in a common humanity, united by a belief in justice and freedom for all South Africans. And the conviction that this could only be achieved through reconciliation. Years later, I became bishop of the very rural Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman. There I encountered poverty and hardship on levels I have never seen. Women spending five hours a day fetching water and wood for the fire, laboring beneath pylons that carried electricity to the opulent white homes which alone had running water. After becoming archbishop, I was a commissioner for South African National Poverty Hearings. We were listening to the voices of the poor who told their stories with dignity. It was an emotionally and physically draining exercise, but hugely rewarding in that those who told their stories recognized that there were people ready to listen to their plight, people who cared about them and their situation. I saw the face of poverty in the eyes of far too many men, women, children, the elderly and people with disability. Their message was, “Archbishop, take our voices to the corridors of power, and say for us, ‘We do not want handouts. We have brains. We have hands. Give us the capacity to eke out our own existence.’” The peaceful transition to democracy in 1994 has been a cause for continued celebration and thanksgiving. But now, we are facing a long, hard struggle to overcome the economic gulfs of Apartheid which builds on the inequalities of colonialism. Yet, our achievements are a basis of hope for humanity, of other possibilities that exist, and a God, for people to rise above narrow ideologies of personal agendas and be united by a common desire to seek the good of everyone. And the good of everyone is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Now over 50 years old, it clearly states that every human being has the right to enough to eat. Yet hunger has grown, and is growing again. Over 40 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in a lecture following his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize said, “We have the resources to get rid of poverty. There is no deficit in human resources. The deficit is in human will.” Now, at the beginning of the third millennium, the resources are still there. The political will? Well, we are still working on that. And that is why gatherings like today’s Convocation are so very important. And that is why gatherings like today’s Convocation give me optimism. And of course I am an eternal optimist. Let me explain why. The Jubilee 2000 Campaign was the greatest global mobilization of public opinion, bringing together people of every faith community, from non-governmental organizations, from civil society around the world. We generated so much pressure on politicians that the wheels started turning. A process began whereby the odious debt of the poorest countries of the world is being written off. We still have some way to go, but we made a beginning with tangible results. For example, there are now more children in schools and more medicines in clinics in Uganda and Ghana. Politicians, as you know, and they are my friends by the way, respond to the opinions of their electorates. Politicians were left in no doubt that public opinion, domestic and international, demanded justice in relation to debts. Now, my friends who are politicians need to be left in no doubt that public opinion, domestic and international, demands justice in relationship to poverty and hunger. And this year public opinion is growing like never before. It is coalitions like today’s that we need. Coalitions that include everyone. We have the interfaith and the hunger coordinators at whose initiative we come together. We have the hosts of today’s Convocation: Bread for the World, Call to Renewal, America’s Second Harvest, and MAZON. We have representatives, indeed leaders, from over forty religious organizations. Every major faith group is here. We have Christians of every type imaginable; if only Christian unity were this easy! Perhaps we should learn the lesson that when you talk about doctrine and the abstract concepts of faith, we find far too many reasons to disagree. But, when we put our faith into practice, look what you can achieve! It says in the Christian Scriptures, in the Letter of James, “Faith without works is dead.” And in our third reading we had from the Christian Scriptures, we had Jesus’ warning that we shall be judged not just on what we profess, but on how we live it out, clearly echoing the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures. But today, we are more than a coalition of faith groups, and with them the representatives from every walk of civil society. We are also forging new alliances along fresh and different lines. I’m delighted that we are a coalition from the bottom up and the top down. What do I mean by that? We need to fight hunger on every front; global justice, national policymaking, and support for every individual who is in need. Today, we bring together those who are working on an international level to make a difference in the poorest regions of the world. Those who channel the riches from this richest nation in the world, in projects that don’t just give charity but open up new possibilities to achieve self-sufficiency and live with dignity. We salute you! And we bring together activists. Those whose work is advocacy, who do the research, hone the arguments, publicize information, raise the profile, lobby the politicians, raising a voice for the voiceless in the corridors of power. We salute you also! And we bring together the vast armies of compassion, fighting on the front line. There are thousands of unsung heroes who are making a difference on the ground in this country, running soup kitchens, lunch clubs, school meals, nutritional support, Health is Next, Meals-on-Wheels, the Salvation Army, America’s Second Harvest, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Society of Saint Andrew, are just some of those groups. There are too many of you to mention you all. We salute you! Every one of you! Coalitions like this will make a difference. And the greatest contribution we can make in life is to make a difference to another person’s life. Tomorrow, many of you will lobby your elected representatives in the Congress to make hunger history in the U.S. This is God’s work, and this is the year we have an unprecedented opportunity to make a difference, not just here in the United States, but across the world. Five years ago, the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals, the most comprehensive development commitment ever made. The aim is to half global poverty, and with it half global hunger, by 2015. This year, one-third of the way through, we are reviewing progress. At the current rate, we will fail to meet our targets. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, has called a meeting of world leaders in September, as a last chance to get the entities back on track. All eyes will be on them. Poverty and hunger are also top of the agenda of the G8 Summit in July, and a major factor in the Doha Round of world trade talks, which is due to be completed by the end of the year. In all these meetings, the spotlight will be on President Bush. How far will the United States support these initiatives? This year, everywhere politicians turn, they will find poverty and hunger on the agenda. They cannot escape. Coalitions like ours, like the One Campaign and the Micah Challenge must keep the pressure on them. We must take every opportunity to keep lobbying across the board, locally, nationally, internationally; at every level we must speak loud and clear. Of course, achieving these goals is not cost free. But in the moment, it is the world’s poorest who are paying the price. Surely, the United States can afford a little more. Within this country the “Blueprint To End Hunger” calculated that it would cost a nickel and a dime per American, per day, to end domestic hunger completely. What a tiny price to pay! On an international level, as long ago as 1980, the Brandt Commission in its “North-South Report,” first called for .7% of the national income of developed countries to be given in development assistance. They hoped the percentage would rise to 1% by 2000. They thought these were reasonable, achievable goals. Alas, the proportion actually given fell from .35% in 1980 to .21% in 2000. Today, only four countries reach the .7% level. In 2003, the United States share was a mere .14%, the largest amount in dollars, but the smallest percentage of all the developed countries. However, in the last two years, the U.S. has begun to increase its poverty focus development assistance. I’m sure it’s in response to pressure like yours. Keep it up! We know this wonderful country can do better! And so now, in the run-up to the July G8 Summit and the September United Nations Millennium Meeting, there is everything to play for. We must all put our weight behind this growing momentum for change because now we have the chance to make a difference. For the hungry of this nation and the hungry of the world. The New Testament has two Greek words for time: kronos, the time that ticks steadily onwards; and kairos, those special moments when opportunities occur, actions happen, turning points are reached. Time has been ticking on, and hunger has been getting worse. But this year for us, and for the hungry of the world, is a kairos moment. Now is the time to grasp the opportunity, press for actions to happen, and make sure that there is a turning point. Now is the kairos moment when we start making hunger history. Now is the decisive moment to which we’ll look back when we reach our goal of “Hunger No More.” Amen. And so be it. |