Halve Poverty by 2015

Last night, dozens of women joined MPs in the House of Commons to launch a new network to empower women. Woman to Woman, an initiative of Micah Challenge, aims to empower girls and women to be change makers to help the poor by prompting action, prayer and campaigns. You can read about the aims of the Micah Challenge (a global network of Christians) on

http://www.micahchallenge.org.uk



MPs Caroline Spelman, Dianne Abbott and Stephen Timms joined a full Committee Room to hear about plans to help the almost 1 billion women and girls in extreme poverty worldwide.

Amanda Jackson, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Micah Challenge, said,

"Whatever the formal stance on women in leadership within the UK Anglicans, the whole church needs to support the value and worth of women - all made in God's image - with dreams and hopes, talents and intelligence.
"Woman to Woman is one initiative that seeks to encourage women who believe in God's transforming hope to speak out and take action against injustices suffered by women and girls - like trafficking, sexual violence, maternal deaths, poverty and low status.
"It wants to highlight the wonderful work already being done quietly by women and encourage more women to see the possibilities for advocacy.
"A deeper and bigger debate is one that is not so widely discussed - the status and security of tens of millions of women who still live in extreme poverty and have little power in their homes or in public life."

The Woman to Woman organisers hope to remind world leaders of their promises made in 2000 to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, one of which is to halve world poverty levels. 

For more information see www.w2wglobal.org or follow the initiative on Twitter @w2wglobal