Advocacy, the MDGs and the Power of Stories

What follows is a cross-post of a piece I wrote earlier today for Ecumenical Women at the United Nations, an organization for which I serve as Communications Coordinator. Throughout the next two weeks we'll be sharing stories and other reflections from our organization's many delegates to the 58th Commission on the Status of Women which opened today at UN Headquarters in New York City. To hear powerful stories from our many delegates form around the world, please check out Ecumenical Women's website here.

This past Saturday at Ecumenical Women's Orientation Day for the United Nations 58th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), I was honored to give two brief workshops about advocacy, the Millennium Development Goals, and the power of sharing stories. We had extremely powerful conversations in both workshops that opened up a bunch of new insights for me about how the sharing of stories relates to Christian witness and working to end gender inequalities. Most importantly, folks got to share how they had used stories in their own local contexts to organize against gender injustice and accompany other girls and women in processes of liberation. Hopefully we all picked up a few new ideas and were able to share something from our own stories as well. As the crazy, awesome energy that is CSW swarms around me, I figured it'd take a quick break and briefly outline what we talked about. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear any feedback you might have.

We began by talking about the power and use of stories in the Christian tradition... how Jesus used stories and how we organize our Christian community around the story that is Christ death and hope-bringing resurrection over the worst of human sin. The group then got into discussion around one of Jesus' stories, a parable not regularly heard in many of our congregations called "The Parable of the Growing Seed:

He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come" (Mark 4: 26 - 29).

Many participants offered interpretations about how this parable related to their advocacy work... some talked about the frustration of spreading seeds and not seeing how they grow into justice. Others talked about the joy when they do succeed in their work. One woman contributed a great interpretation, that she was not the person scattering seed but rather a seed itself. God was helping her grow and change into her calling as she engaged in advocacy work. We next watched part of the following film from Participate, an organization that is bringing the perspective of the world's most marginalized people into the debate about what will follow the Millennium Development Goals in 2015:



While Participate is primarily a secular organization, it's amazing about how their approach reflects the best of the Christian liberation theology tradition, which believes that Christ chooses to especially locate Himself in the lives of those who are most marginalized in the world, whether it be by poverty or other forms of oppression. The lives of oppressed people then serve as sources of revelation, and thus, prove the main source of liberation from whatever or whoever may oppress them. With this in mind, folks and organizations like the Church cannot simply swoop in and "make things better" in a patriarchal manner, but rather should simply accompaniment those living under oppression in their walk toward liberation, using whatever privilege they may have to amplify those voices who are not currently being listened to by decision makers. Furthermore, the global Church is likely the organization that in practical terms has the most direct contact with those living under oppression, including girls and women. The Church (and we as Christians) are therefore called to accompany oppressed individuals in are local communities as they seek to free themselves. After we discussed this concept, I highlighted two platforms through which the United Nations is providing an avenue for increased participation in evaluating the Millennium Development Goals, the World We Want 2015 platform and the MYWorld global survey of priorities for global development.

Whether it pertains to the MDGs or otherwise, amplifying the voices of those living under oppression is important in any community organizing or advocacy effort, whether on a local or global scale. Thus, we spent the second half of the workshop discussing how we had used stories in our local contexts. We heard about the power of stories in combat human trafficking. We heard about the power of stories in helping women reclaiming their lives after being victims of domestic violence. We heard about the power of stories in helping women discern how to interpret privilege and oppression. We heard about the power of stories in helping women gain access to education and sexual/ reproductive health services. At once point, one participant stated that "silence kills" when trying to overcome various forms of oppression. I couldn't agree more, and I feel extremely grateful for being able to hear the stories of all who participated. What an amazing experience, and I look forward to hearing and sharing more stories throughout the week.

God's peace,
Dustin

Dustin is currently in his final year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, having recently completed a year as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in New York City. Recently approved for ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

Faith, Global Development Goals, and Climate Justice

Hey folks! So I recently recorded a brief video presentation for folks at the Lutheran World Federation Youth Desk who are planning on global web conference on climate justice on 26 October. I highly recommend you participate in the event (more info forthcoming), but even if you're not available on the 26th, you can learn a little bit below about how faith, global development goals and climate justice relate to each other from the rough manuscript I wrote for my presentation below. I'll be sure to post the entire video following the web conference. Thanks so much and I'd love to hear what you think!

Hi, I’m Dustin Wright, a seminarian at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and a candidate for ordination in the ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I also recently completed a year at the Lutheran Office for World Community, a joint ministry between the ELCA and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) that carries on advocacy work at the United Nations in New York City. One focus area throughout my last year in New York was the post-2015 development agenda, and thus folks at the LWF Youth Desk asked me to speak with you all today about how the post-2015 development agenda interfaces with the global climate justice movement. Thank you all so much for having me and taking the time to engage in the important ministry of advocating for climate justice.

If there’s one thing I’d like you to take away from my presentation it is that the next two years are an absolutely critical time for the climate justice movement when robust advocacy on behalf of God’s creation and those people most affected by its degradation is more important than ever. That’s because between today and September 2015, two global conversations that have been going on more or less separately for over a decade at the United Nations and elsewhere will merge: a conversation regarding the Millennium Development Goals and a conversation regarding sustainable development. In the remainder of this presentation I’ll summarize both of these conversations, outline the process of how they will merge over the next two years, and conclude with some brief suggestions about how you can get involved.

First, let’s discuss the Millennium Development Goals- frequently referred to as the MDGs. In 2000, world leaders gathered together to create the Millennium Development Goals, eight goals broken into twenty-one specific, measurable targets to be reach by 2015. In my opinion this was a world-changing event, the first time humanity collectively made specific promises about how it would develop over its next fifteen years.

The good news is that the world has been largely successful in reaching these goals: we’ve cut in half the number of folks living in extreme poverty, as defined as living on less than a $1.25 a day. We’ve moving toward a parity between the percentage of girls and boys attending primary school, and have made a great advances in combating diseases like HIV/ AIDS and malaria. On the other hand, progress towards achieving the MDGs hasn’t spread evenly across countries, and issues like inequalities and environmental degradation are getting worse. Every year, progress towards achieving the MDGs is evaluated by the United Nations, and now that the deadline year of 2015 is rapidly approaching, member states at the UN are beginning to discuss what will follow that deadline.

Alongside but somewhat separate from the Millennium Development Goals discussion has been the sustainable development discussion. It’s important to highlight here that “sustainable development” doesn’t just mean development that is environmentally sustainable. Since the first UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, sustainable development has been defined by the international community as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development therefore is comprised of three specific and mutually reinforcing pillars: economic, sociopolitical, and environmental sustainability. Some individuals and groups, especially many indigenous communities, argue there should be a fourth pillar, cultural sustainability.

For instance, if your country were able to immediately convert 100% of its energy production to renewable resources, but that energy remained extremely expensive, it wouldn’t be economically viable and therefore could not be sustainable. Likewise, even in a country that does produce cheap renewable energy, if a quality education isn’t accessible to all individuals regardless of their sociopolitical background, many people may not be able to find jobs and afford to purchase even the cheapest renewable energy. Finally, if an extremely equitable society is sustained by cheap energy from the burning of dirty fossil fuels, the resulting climate change wouldn’t make that model of development sustainable either.

Recognizing that much of the progress under the Millennium Development Goals was not achieved in a sustainable manner, at the Rio +20 Conference in 2012, member states tasked the United Nations with creating a new set of Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. While this process is ongoing and you can follow it via the UN’s Sustainable Knowledge Platform, it was recently announced at the opening of the 68th Session of the UN General Assembly that the SDGs will be combined with the wider post-2015 development agenda to create a one new definitive and sustainable set of targets for global development to be adopted by UN Member States at a high-level summit in September of 2015.

So, I know that may seem a bit a complicated, but in summary, a new plan for global development is being created over the next two years. Whether or not it can be a truly sustainable plan that helps lift people out of poverty while protecting God’s creation is in part, up to you! First, its essential that you help educate your friends and family about the Millennium Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda that will succeed them. What you’re looking at are links to resources that can help you do just that. You can also participate in the MY World Global Survey and the World We Want 2015 platform to make sure leaders know that you and people in your community want a set of global development goals that protect God’s creation. Finally, its not just at UN headquarters in New York City where decisions are being made. In fact, what decisions are made by national governments in their own capitals is much more important. Therefore, make sure you let your national leaders know you care about God’s creation as well! Thanks so much for your listening. Advocating for climate justice is such an important ministry, and I’m very glad you’re taking part!

God's peace,
Dustin


Dustin is currently in his final year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, having recently completed a year as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in New York City. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.

What Happens after the Millennium Development Goals?

One of the primary issues I'm covering during my time at the Lutheran Office for World Community is the post-2015 dialogue, an ongoing process to create development goals to follow the completion of the Millennium Development Goals in 2015.  Unfortunately, while there's a lot of information out there on the web, I've yet to find a clear, concise and basic explanation of how the post-2015 dialogue is taking place.  What follows is a cross-post of a piece I wrote for Ecumenical Women that tries to fill that need.  While the piece specifically calls on the Ecumenical Women community to participate in the post-2015 dialogue, its equally appropriate for all of us to do so as global citizens.  I'd love to hear what you think!

As the CSW58 priority theme is “Challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and girls,” Ecumenical Women is focusing over the next few months on educating our online community about the MDGs and ongoing dialogue about what will follow their completion.

If you don't know much about the MDGs or even what they are, that's okay! To read a recent EW post on the basics, click here. While we'll be going into each of the eight MDGs (and specifically how they relate to women and girls) soon, a dialogue on figuring out what will replace the MDGs in 2015, currently termed "the post-2015 development agenda," is already well underway, and you can participate in it! Thus, we thought some information about how the dialogue has unfolded so far, and how you can get involved, might be helpful.

There are currently a number of separate processes providing input into the post-2015 dialogue, and luckily the UN Foundation and Dalberg Analysis have mapped it out in the infographic below:

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Open Working Group was set-up this past January in response to recommendations from Rio+20, a United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012. While the working group is due to present its final recommendations to the UN General Assembly in September 2014, a draft report was released and opened for comments on 7 May, 2013. To read the draft report, click here. It remains to be seen however, if the SDGs will end up representing an entirely separate set of goals or will directly feed into the post-2015 development agenda.

The UN-led Process has a number of different moving parts. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced the creation of a High Level Panel to advise on post-2015 development agenda. The panel is co-chaired by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia; President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom. After holding meetings in each of co-chairs' respective countries (as well as brief meeting at the 2012 General Assembly), the panel is scheduled to release its report at the end of May.

The UN, in conjunction with civil-society and other international organizations, is additionally leading 88 consultations in specific countries and 11 consultations on the following themes:

• Conflict and Fragility
• Education
• Environmental Sustainability
• Governance
• Growth and employment
• Health
• Hunger, food and nutrition security
• Inequalities
• Population Dynamics
• Energy
• Water

And here's where we as Ecumenical Women can lend our voice. All the links above will send you to specific consultation areas on the World We Want 2015, a web-platform created by the UN and civil-society to gather the priorities of people from every corner of the world.

If you'd prefer to provide more general input, you can create a profile and then answer questions like "World leaders are creating new development goals. What needs to be included?" on the World We Want 2015.

If you'd prefer to begin contributing through a basic survey, you can vote on your top priorities for development in the MY World survey.

There are also a number of non-UN activities feeding into the post-2015 dialogue. Beyond 2015, for instance, is a global civil society campaign that brings together more than 620 organizations.

So wow- that's a lot of information, but we hope you found it helpful. Be sure to participate in the World We Want, the MY World survey and please leave us a comment if you have any questions or concerns.

Finally, if you're interested in a more detailed timeline of the post-2015 dialogue, the Guardian has created a great resource that you can find here.

Dustin currently serves as Vicar at the Lutheran Office for World Community and Saint Peter's Church in Manhattan, having recently completed his second year of a Masters of Divinity program at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. While seeking ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, his focus is on the intersection between worship, service and justice in de-centralized faith communities unencumbered by a traditional church building. In his free time, Dustin likes playing frisbee, hiking and pretending to know how to sing.