A Christian presence in every community

The UK G8

23 May 2013

The following pages provide details of the UK's Presidency of the G8 and how the Church is joining with others in shaping the 2013 G8 agenda to deliver a better world for all of us.

The World We Want

The Church will be using the UK Presidency of the G8 to focus on two key concerns: hunger, sexual violence and the Millennium Development Goals

A World Free of Hunger
With the UK Government hosting the G8 Presidency in 2013 churches, faith communities and UK NGOs have once again come together to mobilise pressure on the UK and other G8 countries to deliver their existing commitments and take meaningful action to tackle the injustice of global poverty that remains very much with us, even in a changing world. The Enough Food for Everybody IF campaign The focus of our joint attention in 2013 is to deliver a world free of hunger. Click here to learn how you can join others in campaigning for a world free of hunger.

A World Free of Sexual Violence
The UK Government has made the campaign against sexual violence in conflict a key feature of its G8 Presidency. The Church has joined with others to speak out against sexual violence wherever it occurs, both at home and abroad, in order to challenge the culture that allows rape to occur in the first place and those attitudes that stigmatise the survivor rather than the perpetrator. Click here to read more about this campaign and how you can add your voice.

A World that Delivers on the Millennium Development Goals
The 5th April 2013 marks the 1000 day countdown to the end of the Millennium development Goals. The record to date is a cause for celebration and sorrow. With a focus on tax, trade and transparancy, the UK Presidency has the potential to advance the MDG Agenda. Churches and faith communities from across the G8 are coming together to mark the 1000 day count down on the 5th April and to encouarge the G8 Heads of Government to reach a purposeful consenus in June 2013. Click here to learn more.

The Church's G8 Engagement

The Church has had an active engagement with the G8 stretching back many years. In 1998 it joined with others to help build a human chain around the G8 meeting in Birmingham. In 2005 it joined with others to form Make Poverty History. In the same year it organised in the margins of the UK G8 a ecumenical religious leaders summit at Lambeth Palace. Since 2005 world religious leaders, of all faiths, have met on the occasion of each G8 summit to discuss global policy challenges and present policy recommendations. Click here to learn more about the G8 and how the Church and other faith communities have engaged with it over the years and the plans for 2013.