Forum on economic justice

Sponsored by the people of the south

The forum on economic justice sponsored by the people of the south on Wednesday, August 13 1997, recommends that the 23rd general council:

1. affirm:
   1. churches of the south living in the context of severe and progressive exclusion of the poor from the global economy;
   2. the growing understanding in the south that our common humanity, and our common faith in the humanizing work of Jesus Christ, are at stake at this historical moment;
2. declare a processus confessionis on economic injustice;
3. embark:
   1. on a programme of progressive analysis, recognition and confession regarding economic injustice, for which the general secretary will be directly responsible and financial resources be made available as a matter of extreme priority;
   2. on an advocacy process to address the issue of the debilitating foreign debt creatively and prophetically, calling for a jubilee for the south;
   3. on solidarity action with women and children who form the first line of victims;
4. urge and assist member churches to conduct workshops with people in congregations to empower them in their need for progressive analysis, recognition and confession in this matter;
5. do this:
   1. believing that God in Jesus Christ has affirmed our common human dignity;
   2. knowing that Christians are called to break the chains of injustice;
   3. insisting that the church should speak at the outset of exclusion in the globalization of the economy;
   4. committing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to the struggles of the south.