Eight developed nations (G8), to cancel debts of poor countries after missionaries warned of a major famine in Malawi, one of the most impoverished republics. Christian Aid Mission (CAM) said the indigenous missionaries it supports in the African nation have warned of a crisis "reminiscent of the country’s devastating 2002 famine" as poor rains, fertilizer shortages and rising grain prices are already "causing severe food deprivation" in parts of Malawi.
"In the southern regions where we are living and working, people have yielded barely anything
from their farms due to drought. This year could bring worse famine than before," the native missionaries said in a statement to BosNewsLife News center. "Pray with us for the food situation in this country as a whole…This could be a terrible year,[and] we are looking to aid our suffering brethren."
Hunger caused by pressure on agricultural land and AIDS are cited by the United States
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as among the main causes for the population’s estimated
average life expectancy rate of just below 37 years.
POOR SEASON
A poor rain season and a lack of fertilizer needed to produce enough grain have reportedly
added to the difficulties for the country’s nearly 12 million people. "Thousands are already facing hunger, and the situation could worsen as rising grain prices make it more difficult for already poor families to purchase food," CAM said.
In a letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, obtained by BosNewsLife, WCC General Secretary Samuel Kobia suggested the G8 should enable governments of Malawi and other impoverished nations to invest in a better future by relieving them from debt.
The G8, which will meet in Scotland in July, should "rethink the logic of corporate globalization and economic models of excessive competition that have widened the gap between rich and poor and aggravated destruction of the environment," he said on behalf of the WCC, representing 347 churches worldwide.
"ILLEGITIMATE DEBTS"
He urged the group to "cancel 100 percent of illegitimate debts for poor countries", and proposed a number of measures "to reinforce such action including the suggestion that the IMF and World Bank sell their gold reserves."
On trade, among other measures, he asked the G8 countries to "give poor farmers in developing countries a chance to participate in just trade," notably by "immediately eliminating all export subsidies in donor countries" to help end poverty by 2015.
The G8 refers to the US, Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada and Russia. It was formally known as the G7 before Russia officially joined in June 2002. Critics say debt reduction will only help corrupt government officials. In Malawi, President Bingu wa Mutharika has lead several anti-corruption efforts, but so far "high-level arrests" lead to "no convictions,", the CIA said this month.
"SAD DAY"
Yet Scotland’s First Minister Jack McConnell, who was due to meet the president Friday, May 27, in Malawi told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) it would be a very sad day" if the problems of one of the world’s poorest countries were not important enough to warrant Scotland’s help.
"I think it would be a very, very, sad day if anybody in Scotland took the view that the children
and mothers in Malawi, who are dying at a higher rate that almost anywhere in the world, that the life expectancy of 37 years, which is half of that in Scotland, was not important enough for us to come here and see the situation on the ground," he told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland program.
He announced a scheme to train medical staff in Malawi in emergency obstetrics and another project enabling up to 10 NHS staff a year to go and volunteer in the country. Another plan was also proposed whereby Scotland will help train more teachers in a bid to improve its education standards.
MISSIONARIES SOLUTION
CAM said native missionaries were however part of the solution to end suffering in the mainly Protestant country. "Through an established network of native missionaries, indigenous ministries want to help suffering communities. They especially want to provide aid since in the past, foreign Muslim groups have used food distribution to draw starving Malawians to mosques and convert them to Islam."
It said with financial help sent by CAM, "many Malawi Christians have been able to help their starving countrymen in past droughts. They hope to do so again this year." Protestants comprise roughly 55 percent and Roman Catholics 20 percent of the population, according to CIA estimates. One in five Malawians are Muslims, while indigenous beliefs and other religions make up 5 percent, the CIA says.
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US based Christian Aid Mission said it has a phone number for donors and more information: 1-800-977-5650 or write insider@christianaid.org and put MI-619 584-CDM on the subject line. (With BosNewsLife research, and reports from Malawi).
