December 1, 2008

FARGO, ND – Church World Service will partner with Bread for the World in an event designed to equip students, congregations and other groups to organize for action against poverty, hunger and disease at a half-day forum scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, at the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Memorial Union in Fargo, ND. The event runs from 8:30 A.M. to 1 P.M.

Called "Turning the Tide: Pushing Back Global Poverty," the forum will focus on progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of goals adopted by the United Nations and the international community for reducing by half the number of people living in extreme poverty and substantially improving health and education in impoverished countries by 2015.

While the MDGs have helped focus energy and resources in all regions of the world on a common strategy to address global poverty, the global food crisis has caused major setbacks in many countries and pockets of deep poverty still exist.

Participants at the forum can attend informational sessions for updates on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, background on environmental, economic, health and social issues related to poverty, and skills building sessions on techniques for influencing legislators, using the Internet and social networking sites for anti-hunger and poverty action, and ideas for community involvement.

Sponsored by the Minn-Kota regional office of Church World Service (CWS) and the Upper Midwest regional office of Bread for the World, the forum is free and open to the public.

Church World Service