Executive Director of Micah Challenge, Andy Clasper said, "We are encouraged by the passion with which the prime minister supported what the Anglican Communion and Micah Challenge are doing. We welcome his acknowledgement of the key role the church is playing not only in what it is delivering on the ground but also in its advocacy on behalf of the poor.
"We call on people of faith and good conscience around the world to join us in campaigning on this greatest of causes."
The Archbishop called on world leaders to live out the Micah 6.8 principles, saying, "We all know with sorrow and great regret how far the achievement of those goals has slipped behind because of all kinds of circumstances.
"We would want to challenge the leaders of our world to be faithful to the promises they have made, a commitment to the poor, the willingness to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly."
He urged the UK in particular to keep up pressure on other governments to meet the MDGs, set by world leaders in 2000 with the overall goal of halving extreme global poverty by 2015.
The special session of the UN in September would be a "crucial moment" for strengthening the resolve of governments to tackle the MDGs, the Archbishop said.
Clasper added, "All eyes are now on the 25 September to see how Gordon Brown and other world leaders deliver on the pledges they have made."
The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, as well as other bishops, were handed a copy of Bible Society's new Poverty and Justice Bible, which features more than 2,000 highlighted verses that reveals God's attitude to poverty and justice. The Prime Minister was given a copy of the Poverty and Justice Bible at a reception at 10 Downing Street last month.
The bishops will meet the Queen at a reception at Buckingham Palace later in the day.
