Message from the local churches
(Christian Council of Churches of Canton of Vaud(1) in Switzerland and Reformed Church of Chablais in France)
to the Presidents and Prime Ministers of the G8 Conference
24 May 2003

Upon the positive initiative of President Jacques Chirac, you are about to discuss major issues to be based on four great principles, namely: responsibility, solidarity, security and democracy.

We are aware that a major part of humanity suffers from plagues that could easily be avoided (malnutrition, lack of access to clean drinking water, poor health care, bad living conditions...) and our faith in Christ's love for all human beings stirs us to encourage you to base your decisions upon these principles mentioned above.

We ask you, in the name of economic responsibility, to bravely commit yourselves to make the WTO more transparent and open to the needs of the poorest, so that a new world trade would be implemented, with a fair retribution to small and middle-size producers, protection of their resources, assuring them of a decent and worthwhile life.

In the name of ecological responsibility, we ask you to bravely commit yourselves to protect the environment, to greatly reduce pollution and augment security (without the threat of nuclear radioactive waste), to scrupulously respect international agreements and to favor new ones (in regard to water, responsibility of companies, etc.), so that future generations might enjoy better and healthier surroundings.

In the name of financial solidarity, we ask you to bravely commit yourselves to alleviate the debt of the most vulnerable countries and to set up practical programs to creatively overcome national indebtedness (ie. by reinvesting part of the money for the poorest social classes).

In the name of human solidarity, we ask you to bravely commit yourselves to assure that public budgets for relief and development would increase (to finally reach the long promised 0,7% of gross national product) so that UN organizations and other NGOs, who are known to do quality work, might have the means to sustain and relieve the suffering peoples of the world.

In the name of security, we ask you to bravely commit yourselves to stop all export trade of weapons to non-democratic countries who are likely to engage in war.

We ask you in the name of democracy to bravely commit yourselves to thoroughly reform international institutions (for example, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the WTO and the UN Security Council) so that they would consider the needs of the most needy people, rather than serve the interests of rich countries or companies.

When topics such as "sustainable development" or "defense of good against evil" tend to become generalized in the speeches of economic, political or religious leaders, they can become simply and dangerously empty words. We ask God, for you and for ourselves, to give us modesty in our statements and greatness in our actions, humility in our behavior and generosity in our involvements.

Our lives on this earth are important and brief. As we all will have to give account to the Living God and to human history for our public actions as well as our secret deeds, for our words as well as our silence, we thank you heartily for your contribution to the construction of a world that is genuinely more responsible and more in solidarity, more secure and more democratic.