Micah Challenge UK - History

History

In the late 1990s a wide coalition of aid agencies, trade unions, churches and campaign groups grew up calling for the cancellation of unpayable developing world debt by the year 2000. Jubilee 2000, as this movement was called, was inspired by the biblical idea of the year of Jubilee. Christians were key in its birth and development and the church in the UK was the bedrock of its high-profile and successful campaigning work.

Shortly after, at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 member states signed the Millennium Declaration, aimed to reduce extreme poverty by 2015. The framework to measure progress towards this was provided by a set of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Seeing Christians playing such a key role in Jubilee 2000 and recognising that the Millennium Declaration itself was, in many ways, a response to this advocacy activity, key figures within the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Micah Network of Christian relief and development agencies discussed how this influence could be maintained. The Millennium Development Goals were considered to be a tremendous opportunity for Christians to continue to influence policy makers.

UK representatives of Tearfund and the General Director of the UK Evangelical Alliance, put together a proposal to focus the combined strength of the WEA and the Micah Network through a global advocacy campaign. This proposal pitched to a meeting of the Micah Network in Seattle in 2003, was accepted and the concept of Micah Challenge was born. Micah Challenge was launched globally on 15 October 2004, timed to coincide with the UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Approximately 11 national campaigns were launched around the world during that year, and this number has steadily increased until by the end of 2006 Micah Challenge was present in 36 countries in both the global south and the global north.

Whilst the UK campaign was launched on 15 October 2004 alongside the international launch, levels of activity and resourcing remained low initially as the Make Poverty History campaign was in full flow in the UK at this time. With Christians and Christian agencies playing such a full part in the campaign, the decision was taken that Micah Challenge’s time had not yet come in the UK. It was not until 22 May 2006 the Micah Challenge UK Board of Directors met for the first time.

By the end of 2006 an executive team with a number of working groups were meeting regularly in addition to the UK Board of Directors. In addition, churches around the country for the first time marked international Micah Sunday on 15 October 2006. Towards the end of the year, extra full-time staff were added to the Micah Challenge UK secretariat, and activity built towards the summer 2007 Blow the Whistle campaign, which was Micah Challenge UK’s entry onto the public stage.