Christians across the world are being invited to join in the Global Day of Prayer to End Famine next month.
World Council of Churches, World Evangelical Alliance and All Africa Conference of Churches, along with church-related humanitarian organisations and a coalition of church-related networks and organisations and partners have designated 10th June as the second annual day to pray for an end to famine around the world.
In a statement issued last week, the organisations said the initiative aims to “unite global faith communities all over the world to promote prayer, reflection and action; bring awareness regarding famine’s impact on the most vulnerable children and families; help address the root causes of famine; and connect with people and organisations currently working to bring immediate relief and long-term change so children and families can live out God’s aspiration for a dignified, peaceful and violence-free future”.
The organisers point out that after years of progress in reducing hunger around the globe, the numbers of hungry people have once again begun to climb, something they described as “a startling reversal less than three years after global leaders collectively agreed that achieving the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goals demanded that no-one be left behind”.
“In a world where is more than enough resources and food for all, less than 50 per cent of needed resources to address these challenges are being collected,” the statement said. “While in most parts of the world, there is peace, festering localised conflicts remain, and children, young men, and women have been among the most affected. Millions of women and girls are exposed to gender-based violence in these crisis-affected areas.”
UN data shows that one in nine or 815 million people are undernourished with two-thirds of them living in Asia.
Resource packs, including prayers, liturgical material and other resources, will be made available by convening organisations later this month. Churches and other groups are wanting to be involved are invited to share their information via this link.
