Bay Area faith leaders urge more aid to world's poor

from the Argus

Interfaith statement asks federal lawmakers to boost U.S. contribution
By Christine Morente,T

SAN FRANCISCO — A confederation of Bay Area interfaith leaders vowed to act as one voice Wednesday to end extreme global poverty.

The pledge took place at the University of San Francisco. Many signed an Interfaith Statement Against Global Poverty in the hope that it will send a message to federal legislators to increase nonmilitary foreign aid by 5 percent over the next seven years.

Msgr. Robert McElroy of St. Gregory's Church in San Mateo, who is one of the signatories to the pledge, said that the American people are under the impression that the United States provides a lot of help to impoverished countries.

It does not, he said.

"We are giving a lot in military assistance," McElroy said. "A very small part of the federal budget goes to nonmilitary foreign aid."

According to the World Bank,

1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty and earn less than $1 a day. Currently, the U.S. government allocates 2 percent of the federal budget for nonmilitary aid.

"The current dominant moral issue of our time is poverty," said The Rev. Stephen Privett, president of the University of San Francisco. "Wealth is being concentrated into fewer and fewer hands. The gap between the wealthy and the poor is widening."

At the moment, the U.S. spends $1.5 billion a day for military expenditures — more than 30 times what is spent each month to help the poorest countries, Privett said.

"That's disproportionate, I would say," he said. "We use seven times more food, minerals and gas. You would think that the wealthiest country could do more to help the poorest countries. One has to believe there will be an impact."

Later this year, Privett, Archbishop George Niederaurer of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco, and Bishop Marc Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California will travel to Washington D.C.

They will urge Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., to support the increase in foreign aid. Leahy is chairman of the subcommittee on State Foreign Operations and Related Programs.

In 2000, the United States joined 180 countries at the United Nations Millennium Summit to reach eight goals by 2015. Those goals include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, reducing child mortality and achieving universal primary education.

Two years later, President Bush signed the 2002 Monterey Consensus, which urged all developed countries that have not done so to allocate 7 percent of their budgets to developmental assistance.

In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Global Poverty Act last September. If passed in the U.S. Senate, the measure would, among other things, ensure that a regular report on the nation's progress toward eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is sent to Congress.

Perhaps the most vocal of those calling for the U.S. to be accountable to help impoverished countries is Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Last month, she wrote Leahy a letter urging him to support an increase in aid.

Feinstein wrote that the U.S. has "lagged behind" other developed countries in committing resources, and that "we must set a higher standard for ourselves and reclaim a leadership position in this fight that will inspire others to follow our lead."

In San Mateo, McElroy's congregation is working on its own to fight poverty.

Last year, it raised $37,000 to donate bed nets treated with insecticide to reduce the spread of malaria in Africa. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided a matching grant.

"We asked our people during Lent to give up something material in their lives," McElroy said.

This time, his congregation is raising money to provide clean water to an African village through PlayPumps International. It is a water system installed on a school playground. Children spin the PlayPump merry-go-round, pumping underground water into a 2,500-liter tank that feeds into a tap.