Nobel Peace Nominee: Speak Out on Injustice
by SHANTA BRYANT GYAN
For immediate release
Anaheim, CA, May 7, 2006 - Noble Peace Prize nominee and Kenyan global economic expert Wahu Kaara challenged 7,000 United Methodist Women Friday, May 5 to tell world leaders about economic injustices around the world.
"The greatest challenge in our pursuit of justice is to stand up and speak to power," said Ms. Kaara, ecumenical program coordinator for the Millennium Development Goals for the All Africa Conference of Churches. "Speaking to power is no mean task, but we should be persuaded. The prophets before us did at their time and that needs to be done now."
Ms. Kaara urged women to speak out on injustices.
"Subjugating others to economic and military might in the name of peace and injustices of marketing military hardware in the name of democracy are core in propagating and maintaining our inequality," she said.
Injustices of dishonesty and double standards are dividing the world into haves and have-nots, black and white, and man and woman, saying the injustices are "a brazen abomination that cannot be defended."
Ms. Kaara, who is founder and coordinator of the Kenya Debt Relief Network, criticized the international community for failing to offer affordable life-saving patented drugs to impoverished countries.
"When we let children die of treatable diseases or be made orphans because of inaccessible patented drugs denied to their folks for the sake of profit, we are culpable in this betrayal," she said. "It's sin in the eyes of God."
Ms. Kaara joined Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in launching the Global Call to Action Against Poverty in Porto Allegre, Brazil, in 2005. The action became the largest global movement against poverty with campaigns in more than 100 countries, including citizens; social movements; trade unions; churches; nongovernmental organizations; and women, youth and human-rights groups.
Referring to passages in Isaiah, she implored those at Assembly to "loose the chains of injustice" through compassion, communion, selflessness and love.
"The challenge here is to confess to be the voice of this monumental prophecy of our time as we are doing today and speak loudly to the early powers of our world today that are taking us to doom and material worship of what God has freely bestowed to us," Ms. Kaara said.
The Women's Division (www.umwmission.org) represents United Methodist Women, an organization of nearly one-million members, whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. Members raise close to $25 million a year for programs and projects related to women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world.
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Shanta Bryan-Gyan is a freelance journalist and communications consultant.
Contact: Kelly C. Martini
Communications Director/Information Officer
Women's Division, GBGM
United Methodist Church
(212) 870-3729 FAX (212) 870-3736
kmartini@gbgm-umc.org
www.umwmission.org
