A new inter-religious partnership for health will be kick-started at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Review Summit in New York.

The World Council of Churches has called on world leaders to put impoverished people first, instead of making priorities of big banks and military expenditure.

Tony Blair will today launched an international search for thirty outstanding young people to serve as inter-religious ambassadors for the Millennium Development Goals. In Spring 2009 these young activists aged 18 – 25 will be selected to be the first Faiths Act Fellows.

As world leaders gather for make or break talks about halving extreme global poverty, development agencies, including Britain's Christian Aid, warn that progress is being hampered by the activities of rich countries and big business.