VIKKI HOWORTH, a board member of Christian global justice advocacy Micah Australia, reflects on her recent experience as a member of the Micah Australia Womens Leaders Network delegation meeting with politicians in Canberra…
Australia
It’s not every day that I get to join with over 40 Christian women leaders from across the country to meet with politicians in Parliament House to advocate for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our world. But this is exactly what happened recently when I was part of the Micah Australia Womens Leaders Network delegation who, representing 12 different church denominations, met with 43 politicians to discuss the positive role Australia can play in creating a safter world for all.
The Micah Women Leaders Network delegation outside Parliament House on 9th August, 2023. PICTURE: Courtesy of Micah Australia.
Personally, the journey we went on together represented an incredible moment of unity for the church and was a reminder of how much we can achieve when we collaborate with one voice to love our neighbour. We came together with such a strong sense of both responsibility and opportunity to put our faith into action, to be a voice for the voiceless and speak up for those in need. Politicians heard that as Christian leaders we are passionate about action being taken as we believe all people are made in the image of God and are full of dignity, value and worth.
We all know that the world is not as it was created to be, and we need a safter world for all.
“[T]he journey we went on together represented an incredible moment of unity for the church and was a reminder of how much we can achieve when we collaborate with one voice to love our neighbour.”
Indeed, the world has entered a period of ‘polycrisis’, where severe and mutually re-enforcing shocks, including rising conflict, COVID-19 and climate change, threaten to derail decades of well-earned progress to improve the lives of millions around our world. If current trends continue, the world we face in 2030 could have 575 million people living in extreme poverty, 600 million people facing hunger and 84 million children and young people out of school.
Armed with such shocking statistics, we met with politicians to discuss Australia’s moral and strategic imperative to act on the ‘polycrisis’ and to encourage cross-partisan support for Australia to step up its role as a generous and just global citizen at a time of great global need and uncertainty.
A key focus of our meetings was to get politicians’ input and views on shaping a new campaign (to launch in 2024) entitled ‘A Safer World for All’. Micah, in partnership with the Australian Council for International Development, is currently working with Australia’s leading NGOs, foreign policy thinkers, economists and more to identify the top actions Australia can take to address the impacts of ‘polycrisis’.
Our meetings were both timely and significant as the government released its new international development strategy the day before our visit. We discussed the importance of ensuring that people and the alleviation of poverty remain at the heart of the strategy’s implementation. We also recognised that our international development program is what best enables us as a nation to show our compassion and generosity towards our neighbours and those in greatest need, both in our region and globally.
We also discussed the need to rebuild and increase Australia’s Aid budget and humanitarian assistance. Despite recent welcomed increases, Australia’s official development assistance has faced dramatic cuts over the past decade. Indeed, Australia has fallen from the 14th most generous OECD donor in 2015 to 27th in 2022 – its least generous level ever, when measured as a percentage of our gross national income. Our level of aid is well below the average of other wealthy nations (0.36 per cent of GNI while we are at 0.19 per cent).
Whilst we were encouraged by the introduction of the new international development strategy, we communicated that it must be accompanied by a scaling up of investment fit for addressing the global challenges and crises our world now faces and a commitment to not only addressing the need in our region but globally. We also recognised that providing aid is not all that Australia can or should be doing and addressing the ‘polycrisis’ will require ‘polysolutions’. It was valuable to get politicians views on which solutions they thought most important and achievable.
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The delegation also attended a briefing with Pat Conroy, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, to discuss how Australia’s aid program can respond to the interconnecting crises our world is experiencing and the government’s vision for its new international development strategy.
Senator Pat Conroy, Minister for International Development and the Pacific, meets with women from Micah Women Leaders Network at Parliament House on 9th August, 2023. PICTURE: Courtesy of Micah Australia.
It was such an encouragement to hear Minister Conroy speak directly to the church leaders, saying “we need you” and asking us to keep advocating on behalf of others. It was such a strong reminder of the important role we play at the grass roots level and so uplifting to hear the minster talk about the importance of the “moral case” for aid.
I left Canberra feeling motivated, inspired and full of a sense of renewed purpose and unity. I will continue to raise my voice and take the ‘Safer World for All‘ campaign forward by mobilising and demonstrating public support in my own local community for an Australia that acts justly and generously in our world.
What an encouragement to know that our amplified voices do make a difference. We have an amazing opportunity to impact government policy as we seek a world in which God’s vision for human flourishing is actualised – with justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry and no-one is left behind. I’m thankful for the democracy in which I live and the opportunity I have to use my voice to help build a safer world for all.
Vikki Howorth is a member of the Micah Australia board.
