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1,000 international faith leaders, activists will tackle child poverty at Washington Ecumenical Advocacy Conference

March 2, 2007

Focus: What Violence, Globalization, Environmental Degradation and Global Warming Are Doing to the World's Children

Highlights: Killings in Burma, Philippines -- South America's beleaguered Chaco region -- The fate of girl children in Africa -- Global livelihoods and the new Farm Bill

Conference open to media -- Interviews with presenters available on request

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 1,000 international human rights advocates and faith leaders will convene March 9-12, 2007, for the fifth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice Conference. This year's conference, themed "And How Are the Children," will include workshops, advocacy trainings and a day of lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill to press for greater U.S. support for the world's most vulnerable young people.

The only event of its kind held in the U.S. that gathers national and international faith and grassroots activists, Ecumenical Advocacy Days is representative of the broader movement of people of faith who believe that poverty is a pressing moral issue that must be addressed as a top priority on the U.S. agenda.

The more than 50 co-sponsors of this year's conference are internationally-known faith-based and policy advocacy organizations, including Church World Service, the National Council of Churches USA and Children's Defense Fund. Organizers hope the conference will contribute to a growing recognition among Americans of all religious backgrounds and political stripes that ending child poverty is an essential element to our nation's pursuit of the common good.

A host of international speakers will present at plenary sessions and workshops on current crises in the U.S., Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, Africa and the Middle East. Presenters and participants will also focus on specific domestic and global child poverty issues including:

unaccompanied children crossing borders;

fixing the No Child Left Behind Act (a related pre-event will take place March 9);

dangers of global warming on children now and in the future;

effects of current Middle East conflict on the region's children;

impact of current U.S. security policies on children;

ill effects of odious debt on African countries and free trade agreements on poor workers and families in Latin America; and

escalating violence and human rights abuses in Burma and the Philippines.

On Monday, March 12, participants will meet with lawmakers to petition greater U.S. support for three key domestic and international issues focused on children, calling for:

Congressional action in 2007 that ensures affordable, comprehensive, accessible and quality healthcare for all children living in the U.S.;

comprehensive, mandatory and aggressive anti-global warming legislation that will protect future generations; and

adoption by Congress of new "Spending for Peace, Not War" priorities.

WHEN: March 9-12, 2007

WHERE: Doubletree Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.

WHO: Key speakers include:

Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children's Defense Fund

Chris Hedges, New York Times reporter and author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

Rev. Dr. Bernice Powell Jackson, North American President for the World Council of Churches

Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Rev. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA

The Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iniguez, Jr., D.D., Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caloocan, the Philippines

Other key presenters include Church World Service international partners:

From Africa:

Francis Ng'ambi, Malawian economist, Project Officer on Budget, Debt and Trade for the Economic Justice Network of the Southern Africa Conference of Churches

Paul Mugo Maina, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Development Services, Nakuru, Kenya

From Burma, the Philippines and Asia-Pacific Rim:

Jack Dunford, Executive Director Thailand Burma Border Consortium

Marie Hilao Enriquez, Secretary General of the Philippine non-governmental organization Karapatan

Sharon Rose Joy Duremdes, General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines

Bishop Eliezer Pascua, General Secretary of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines

Reverend Father Jose P. Dizon, founder and current executive director of the Workers Assistance Center, Inc., the Philippines

Athea Penalosa, Children's Rehabilitation Center, Quezon City, the Philippines

Sister Filo Hirota, Japanese bishops' Peace Council and the Catholic Council for Justice and Peace of the Episcopal Conference of Japan

From Latin America:

Ricardo Esquivia, Colombian peace activistand winner of the 2005 Peacemaker in Action award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Action

Germán Bournisse, National Coordinator of the National Team of Indigenous Pastoral (ENDEPA), Argentina

Pahola Yanina Rímola García , Program Coordinator of FEPAZ, the Guatemala Ecumenical Forum for Peace and Reconcilation

Dr. Jorge Freyre Scafati, General Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Network for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents

Other featured presenters:

Victor Quintana, Mexican scholar-activist and opponent of globalization, and Larry Mitchell, National Corn Growers Association Chief Executive Officer -- co-presenting the workshop "A New Farm Bill: U.S. and Global Livelihoods on the Line."

Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, D.C., weekly columnist and broadcast commentator -- leading a workshop on "Economic Globalization," with focus on the impact of globalization in Latin America and the economic forces driving migration.

Dr. Robert Nelson, Senior Staff Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists, Faithful Security Coordinator Jessica Wilbanks , and David Culp, Legislative Representative for the Friends Committee on National Legislation -- presenting the workshop " Nuclear Weapons Buildup."

Institute for Policy Studies' Emira Woods, Co-Director of IPS' Foreign Policy in Focus -- presenting "The Debt of the Dictators," a documentary on the impacts of crushing debt in Argentina, South Africa, the Philippines and the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by a case study presentation on Liberia.

Steve Kretzmann, Executive Director, Oil Change International, and other analysts -- presenting " International Debt, Oil, and Climate Change: Making the Links! "

CWS Policy Analyst and Advocate Kathy McNeely, and Angela Wauye, Food Security Programme Coordinator for ActionAid International, Kenya -- presenting the workshop "Introduction to International Trade"

Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice is a movement of the international ecumenical Christian community, its recognized partners and allies.

For a complete program agenda and list of speakers, visit: www.advocacydays.org. For a list of sponsors, visit www.advocacydays.org/sponsors.

Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;

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