DFID Event for Evangelicals, December 2005

Government minister, Gareth Thomas MP, praised evangelical Christians in December for their commitment to keeping debt relief and aid to developing countries at the top of the Government’s agenda.

15 December 2005

At a meeting organised by the Evangelical Alliance with grassroots Christian campaigners in Canterbury on 13 December, he said, “We wouldn’t have made the progress we have made if Christians had not been interested.” The Minister, who is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development (DFID) also urged Christians to “stay engaged and stay interested in development” and to keep campaigning and putting pressure on the Government, “because an awful lot more progress needs to be made”.

The lunchtime question and answer session with Mr Thomas was hosted by the Rev David Stedman, minister of Canterbury Baptist Church and attended by local Christians and representatives from over 15 Christian relief and development organisations. The conference was held at the request of DFID as a result of the increasingly significant role Christians are playing in campaigning on relief and development issues.

Peter Grant, International Director of Christian relief and development charity, Tearfund, answered questions alongside Mr Thomas. Other members of the panel were Julia Wensley, Campaign Co-ordinator for Micah Challenge UK and Ben Gilchrist, Director of SPEAK, a student campaigning group on issues of global justice. The questions ranged from issues of debt relief to climate change, fair trade and the role of smaller NGOs in disaster relief. Mr Grant commented, “I really welcome this initiative. It provided a useful dialogue on a range of development issues. The next step is to focus down on some of the specific contributions to the debate.”

Ben Gilchrist said, “I don’t think the minister really answered the questions on debt and trade in terms of specifics. However, it was good to have this face to face dialogue and for those at the grassroots level to be able to ask their questions. It was also good to work with other Christian organisations and I am grateful for this opportunity provided by the Alliance.”

R. David Muir, Public Policy Director for the Evangelical Alliance, who chaired the event, said, “This has been a very useful meeting but it has also flagged up serious issues that the Government need to address. It also highlighted that we need an ongoing dialogue between Government, evangelical Christians and Christian NGOs on international development issues. It is my hope that DFID will continue to want to work with evangelical Christians to help deliver social justice across a huge range of global needs.”