Living a faith that is JUST is a key message Caritas Australia will bring to World Youth Day, the largest youth event in the world celebrating the universal (global) church.

To be held in Sydney from the 15th- 20th July 2008, Caritas Australia will participate in World Youth Day (WYD) 2008 as the international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church. The WYD festival is a unique opportunity to reach out to young people and show how each of us can challenge poverty and injustice.

“A blueprint for change”, focused on the Millennium Development Goals, is part of an exciting week long program for young people in Customs House, Circular Quay to educate about global issues and inspire action for justice. The program includes an exhibition, cultural performances, lectures and workshops.

Evan Ellis, Caritas Australia’s WYD Coordinator, says Customs House at Circular Quay will be a space for “young people to reflect, discuss, muse, argue, plan, listen and tear apart questions of social justice and the demands of human dignity.”

One of the main ways Caritas hopes to do this, and to galvanize young people to take action, is through an exhibition on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This exhibit aims to deepen reflection on social justice issues, therefore encouraging WYD pilgrims into becoming agents for positive change.

Although some progress has been made on the MDGs, – which range from halving world poverty to ensuring universal primary education – efforts need to be stepped up if the goals are to be met by the target date of 2015.

The exhibition will have a strong Oceanic (Pacific region) and Indigenous Australia flavour, and will run for the entire month of July at Customs House. Featuring interactive displays, photo essays and installations, a blueprint for change will be an innovative exploration of the importance of the MDGS and the role we must all play in making them a reality.

We are by now, no doubt all aware of the historic occasion in 2000, when the World leaders adopted the UN Millennium Declaration, a commitment to work together to lift millions of people out of extreme poverty by 2015.

Since then, the world has focused on achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Between 1990 and 2002 average overall incomes increased by approximately 21 %; the number of people in extreme poverty declined by an estimated 130 million; child mortality rates fell from 103 deaths per 1,000 live births a year to 88; and overall life expectancy rose from 63 years to nearly 65 years.
These achievements clearly indicate that aid does work, and that global partnerships are effective. But more needs to be done.
On a global level the gains have been uneven, and many countries, such as small-island developing states and landlocked developing countries are behind target. There are also huge disparities within middle income countries, meaning entire regions or social groups risk being left behind.
At present no region is on track to meet all the MDGs. Our own region, Oceania, is only expected to achieve three of the 18 MDG targets by 2015.

Achieving the MDGs is a crucial first step to effectively tackling poverty, but it requires immediate action – from the grassroots level all the way to the top. The Caritas Australia program at Customs House is a chance to make young people aware of the significance of these goals, including how they can take action to help achieve them.

While Caritas Australia is active in over thirty countries, the exhibition deliberately focuses on Oceania. As this is the first WYD to be held in Oceania (and only the second in the Southern Hemisphere), it will profile how poverty affects young people in the region.

WYD 2008 anticipates an unprecedented number of young people from Oceania, with countries such as the Solomon Islands expected to send upwards of 300 people and Papua New Guinea 1,000.

Despite smaller contingents from nations such as the US, organisers remain confident of hosting the forecasted 125,000 internationals. As such, this is an opportunity to convey to visitors the diverse realities of the Oceania region, and how achieving the MDGs is a global struggle well beyond the confines of Africa and Asia.

Pacific Island countries are widely dispersed over a large geographical area. They differ significantly in size, population, and resource endowments and development constraints, but nevertheless share a number of development challenges.

The majority of countries in the Pacific are Small Island Developing States (SIDS). When a progress report on this region was carried out by the UN in 2004, fewer than half of these SIDS had data for the majority of indicators: none offer any information on poverty or hunger and few on education or gender.

However, we do know, that progress towards the MDGs varies significantly across the region, and in many cases within countries as well. Although there have been some gains in the wider Asia Pacific region, there is slow progress (and in some cases a worsening of status) in the Pacific itself. Indeed, in some sectors — in particular health — there is a real risk that some of the region’s gains could be reversed.

Primary school enrolment (MDG 2) is relatively high in the Pacific, although significant room for improvement remains in some countries, and those nations with rapid population growth will face challenges to provide sufficient facilities and resources for expanding student populations.

Child and infant mortality (MDG 4) are declining in most of the region, and although improvements have been made in maternal health (MDG 5) in recent decades, this progress is not uniform across the region.

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria all impose significant health burdens in some countries at present. The high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections increases the risk of a significant HIV/AIDS epidemic in the region.

It is clear that in this region, like many others in the world, we are still not on track to achieving the historic declaration made over 8 years ago to end extreme poverty.

However, a recent report from the UN, and led by economist Jeffrey Sachs, states that it is still possible to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by taking action now.

The report indicates the way ahead is clear:

• The amount of aid must be doubled from 0.25% of the incomes of the rich countries to 0.50%. This is only 50 cents out of every $100 earned. The total cost would then be an extra $66 billion, much less than the $1,000 billion outlaid each year on military spending and much less than the rich countries spend on subsidies to protect their own agricultural and other producers.
• Aid spending must more effectively reach the poor. Much aid is of the "boomerang" type, which "bounces back" to the donor country. Micro credit schemes are a proven effective form of aid.
• Trade rules must be made fairer so that producers in poor countries can compete fairly on global markets and so support themselves.
• Debt must be abolished for the poorest countries so that debt repayments can be redirected to the provision of essential services for their own populations like health and education.

Caritas Australia works hard to make sure that as much aid as possible actually reaches those who need it most, and it has been a long time advocate for changes to the Australian government aid policy.

The WYD program at Customs House will be a unique opportunity to bring this work of Caritas Australia, and the principles of sustainable development and effective aid, to a wider audience, and encourage their active participation in much needed change.

As our WYD Coordinator reminds us, “In a world of global poverty, those who can afford to attend have a special responsibility to use their experiences at WYD, before, during and after, to work for a more just and equitable world.”

To find out more about Caritas Australia and WYD events, please visit www.caritas.org.au or phone 1800 024 413 

Anna Orchard
Communications Officer, Caritas Australia