News
A special service organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) at the Ecumenical Centre chapel in Geneva, Switzerland, dedicated prayers to the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), meant to eliminate extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and tackle climate change and water scarcity by 2030.
The prayer service on 22 September was held as part of Prayer for Everyone - a campaign aimed at engaging faith communities in a worldwide prayer action supporting the SDGs.
The 17 SDGs will be launched at a special United Nations (UN) summit during 25 to 27 September, as part of this year’s annual UN General Assembly in New York. The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals with its 15-year timeframe coming to an end this month.
In welcoming participants attending the special prayer service, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said, “The SDGs have been approved by the member states and will be launched on 25 September in New York. It is heartening to note that most of the 17 goals of the SDGs have a strong relevance for the work of the WCC. This prayer service is an opportunity to dedicate these goals to God in prayer and to show our solidarity for the success of the Sustainable Development Goals”.
“The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, will require mobilizing a broad network of committed stakeholders – and the 6 billion believers globally are a significant starting point,” said Dinesh Suna, coordinator of the WCC’s Ecumenical Water Network.
“Faith communities can play a critical role by popularizing the goals and engaging their members in prayer and action. Christians, being among the largest faith communities, can exercise great influence. The WCC, a fellowship of 345 churches with over half a billion members, is well positioned to play a lead role in this regard,” added Suna.
The WCC will be present at the UN Summit on the SDGs in New York, with participation from its staff members and representatives of its partner organizations. The WCC will also hold a side event in New York on the “Moral imperative to end extreme poverty”, in partnership with the World Bank and other civil society organizations, on Thursday 24 September.
