The Micah Challenge

Micah Challenge UK is part of the international Micah Challenge movement of churches and Christian agencies uniting to hold their governments to account for the promises they made towards the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.

Already, 32 countries have united behind the Micah Challenge and 13 more countries are due to launch their own national campaigns in the course of 2007.

The challenge is taken from the book of the Old Testament prophet Micah: "And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8)."

Building on the momentum on the Make Poverty History campaign, Micah Challenge is calling on the Government to keep its promises to the poor, and on the church to stand in solidarity with the poor. As Christians, we are called to pray, take action and speak out on the injustices of poverty.

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'Blow the Whistle'

'Blow the Whistle' is Micah Challenge's campaign for 2007, which marks the half-way point between setting the MDGs and the date set to achieve them.

Micah Challenge argue that it's time to Blow the Whistle to ensure, firstly, that our government and others the world over honour their promises, and, secondly, that the UK Government actively encourages other global leaders to affect change in their own countries.

In the UK, the Blow the Whistle campaign will focus on five key areas - AIDS treatment, water and sanitation, climate chaos, trade justice and primary education - as it calls on our government and the international community to look at the half-time scores so that extreme poverty and hunger really are halves for the world's poor by 2015.

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