|PIC1|The Archbishop of York has called on G20 leaders gathering in London next week to up their spending on conflict prevention.

Dr John Sentamu issued the call in an address to mark the launch of the Parliamentarians Network for Conflict Prevention and Human Security.

He drew on his recent visit to refugee camps in Kenya set up to house people displaced by last year’s conflict surrounding the national elections.

Dr Sentamu said there was a “moral imperative” to prevent conflict and guarantee human security.

“Without human security the continuing tragedies that we see unfolding in Darfur and Zimbabwe will continue whilst populations outraged at these daily acts of inhumanity wonder why their own governments have been reduced to inaction as these conflicts continue with their increasing human cost," he said.

Dr Sentamu pointed to the “blatant disregard for human rights” that often accompanies conflict, including the use of child soldiers, the systematic rape of women and girls, and the execution of unarmed civilians.

“All sense of human worth and dignity is lost in these most brutal conflicts,” he said.

“The underlying essential truth that each of us is created in the image of the Divine and that, as carriers of God’s image, each one of us needs to be treated with love, care and respect is a truth denied and violated in each of these conflicts.

“Each one of us is a stand-in for God. In the killing fields of our world, God is being violated and blasphemed.”

The Archbishop warned that the global economic turmoil could fuel more conflict unless the G20 started to invest in conflict prevention.

“We need to act and act decisively now,” he said. “The UN has stated that the ‘biggest source of inefficiency in our collective security institutions has simply been an unwillingness to get serious about preventing deadly violence’. This indifference has gone on long enough. We need to act now.”

He acknowledged the Government’s substantial investment in the Millennium Development Goals to halve global poverty, but warned that the results could be undone if government leaders fail to address conflict.

“Conflict can serve to rob us of these achievements if the causes of conflict are not addressed and prevented. Conflict prevention is far more cost effective than trying to solve conflicts once they have broken out,” he said.