Religion News Service just published an essay I wrote about new data from the United Nations on global progress against poverty: https://religionnews.com/2023/09/25/we-are-defeating-global-poverty-congress-could-set-us-back/ It shows that the pandemic has caused a tremendous setback, but that some progress against poverty continues.
Those of you who receive my blog posts know that I find the world's dramatic progress against poverty religiously important. It's like the exodus of the Bible, a contemporary experience of God's love for humanity. God is surely calling for us to do what we can to continue the progress that is so clearly feasible.
I don't think it's feasible anymore to overcome hunger and extreme poverty by 2030, but the fact that hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people have managed to climb back from their losses during the pandemic is encouraging.
U.S. government leadership on global poverty issues is an important part of what's needed to get back on a trajectory toward virtually ending hunger and extreme poverty. Yet House Republicans, swayed by their most extreme members, are this week poised to approve brutal cuts in poverty-focused international aid.
Notes from home to Democrats and centrist Republicans can encourage them to protect poverty-focused international aid in the compromise that will be needed to re-open the government. The current attack on international aid also adds further to the case for giving time and money to Democrats in the upcoming elections.