International Christian movement Micah Challenge is calling upon millions of Christians to pray and take action against extreme poverty as part of its 10.10.10 campaign.

Today marks the 100-day countdown to 10.10.10, when as many as 100 million Christians worldwide will remind their political leaders of the promises they made to halve extreme global poverty by 2015.

Micah Challenge and its many partner organisations, including The Salvation Army, World Vision and Tearfund, warn that unless urgent action is taken now, many of the Millennium Development Goals agreed in 2000 will not be met.

On October 10, Christians will join in saying a specially written 10.10.10 prayer asking for God’s intervention on behalf of those still suffering in poverty and confessing their own failure in ignoring God’s call for justice. They will also make a promise to remember the poor and remind their political leaders of the need to keep their commitments to the poor.

The campaign has been endorsed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

“If we start acting now and if we as believers can pull together in supporting these goals we can hold our governments to account and we can make a difference in the world, the kind of difference God asks us to make,” said Dr Williams.

Micah Challenge’s International Director, Joel Edwards, said: “The campaign in October will come three weeks after a crucial review of our performance so far at a United Nations Leaders Summit in New York. The world will be assessing how we are doing in fulfilling our promises.

“10.10.10 offers us an opportunity for robust and prophetic engagement around the promises made to the poor, as well as to offer critical evaluations of world government responses. This is why our prayer, promise and action are both timely and potentially transformational.”