At this time each year millions of people are struggling to keep their week-old promises. Whether to play fewer computer games, go for a jog every day or practice random acts of kindness. It’s lent, a time when Christians all over the world give something up for the 40 days leading up to Easter.
Every year I consider giving up something and one year I even managed to give up chocolate – members of the Caroe household know that this was a great sacrifice!
But how about bigger promises? Much Bigger Promises? Back in 2000 world leaders made 8 huge promises to help poor people around the world. Among those promises were halving the number of people who live on less than $1 a day, making sure that all children receive a primary education, to reducing the number of children dying under five by two thirds and to cutting hugely the number of women dying in childbirth. They promised to meet all these commitments – called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.
It makes me very sad to report that you are likely doing far better on your lent promise, if you’ve made one, than these leaders are doing on their promises to the world’s poorest people. Now, two thirds of the way through the critical time-period, although some progress has been made, many of the MDGs have seen no progress at all, and in some of the areas things are actually getting worse.
Oxfam has come up with a way for you to give world leaders a wake-up call. By committing to keep a promise (as small or as big and as sensible or as wacky as you like) and telling us about it you will be acting with thousands of others to put pressure on world leaders to keep their word on the MDGs.
Make a promise this lent to put pressure on world leaders to keep theirs. A mass chocolate-eating marathon anyone?
Take action: Join the Big Promise.