By Lesley-Anne Knight, Secretary General Caritas Internationalis

The year has begun with challenges on all fronts, be they our response to war, extreme climate conditions or the global financial crisis which could substantially change our economic, business and political landscape.

2009 stared tragically with the cycle of violence in the Holy Land creating a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The bombing of Caritas medical clinic in Gaza brought home to us the senseless futility of war and the need to increase our peace-building efforts. Peace remains elusive there and in other parts of the world, such as Sri Lanka where Caritas is working to bring about peace through interreligious dialogue.

How do we uphold hope for the Millennium Goals in this context?

Leadership is key to change. And in 2009 the vision and courage of world leaders will be more critical than ever in bringing about the changes and global solutions so urgently needed as war and poverty continue to scar and fragment humanity.

I’ll be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos this month to engage positively with world leaders and give them the view from millions of people who were already living in crisis born of poverty before the world had ever heard of the concept of ‘credit crunch’.

Expectations, hopes and dreams will be firmly focused on the new President of the United States and on G8 leaders who will meet in Italy in June.

The clock is now running for politicians, scientists and campaigners to deliver a comprehensive action plan at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen at the end of 2009.

We want governments to establish a binding global post-2012 climate change agreement that will address the urgency of climate change and that will respect and promote equity and social justice.

That means cutting emissions drastically, and supporting those worst affected. Climate change costs lives. We saw that in India, Nepal, Haiti, Cuba and Honduras last year with a series of terrible storms. Climate-related disasters have increased three-fold in recent years and the poorest are the most vulnerable.

We’ll be continuing our Grow Climate Justice campaign and encouraging others to join.

2009 will be an important year for Africa.

Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Cameroon and Angola in March, his first trip to Africa. Meanwhile, SECAM holds its plenary assembly in Rome 27 September 27 to 3 October and the second Synod for Africa will be held at the Vatican 4-25 October.

Caritas has three major humanitarian operations running in African countries, for Darfur in Sudan, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. And the crisis in Somalia is causing us more and more concern.

Many Africa countries will not reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 but by 2150. Maternal health remains a regional and global scandal, with the odds that a sub-Saharan African woman will die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth at 1 in 16, compared to 1 in 3,800 in the developed world. We’ll be looking for leadership from African governments and the international community for change.

To lead change requires us to have a firm foothold on the rock of our Caritas values, and sustained by “God’s love that has flooded our inmost heart” (Romans 5.5), to have the strength to uphold the hope of the poorest and all those who journey together with us towards one humanity.

Happy New Year and peace be with Caritas and all people.