To put an end to poverty once and for all: that’s the goal of the “Poverty Zero” campaign (www.pobrezacero.org), organized by the Coordination of Spanish NGOs, that demonstrated in the streets of Madrid and some fifty other Spanish cities on 26 June to ask for provisions and measures against poverty in the world. The Conference of Religious of Spain (CONFER) has lent its support to the campaign, in which Spanish Caritas, Manos Unidas, Justice and Peace and other NGOs run by the religious congregations are also involved. At the demonstration it was pointed out that “70% of the poor are women, and that 1100 million people in the world survive on less than one dollar per day”. The religious reaffirmed that “the fight against poverty must be one of our top priorities as men and women religious of Spain and as followers of Jesus”. A manifesto was also read out, calling for the “100% cancellation of the debt of the poorest countries”. It also urged that “the money of this cancellation be invested in the countries themselves to achieve the Millennium Objectives signed by the United Nations in 2000; and that the regulations of international trade that privilege the rich countries be changed”. The Spanish bishops, in the meeting of its Standing Committee, spoke of “the extremely grave and long-standing problem of poverty and hunger in the world” and reflected on the need to “support missionaries and other institutions in raising awareness of the problem”.
