JUBILEE USA NETWORK ISSUES ACTION ALERT

MARCH, 2001

Write President Bush and your members of Congress today. Tell them it is time to complete the unfinished business of Jubilee debt cancellation. Ask them to instruct the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank and Asian Development Bank to cancel the debts of low-income countries now, using their own resources, without requiring Structural Adjustment Programs, and without requiring privatization of public resources such as water.

Ask President Bush to make debt cancellation a top priority for action this year. Remind him of his campaign promise to cancel debts of Third World countries. Urge him to advocate with other creditor country leaders for cancellation of debts owed  to the World Bank, IMF, and regional development banks. Thank him for putting $240 million in his budget for debt reduction. Make the connection between debt and the global AIDS crisis, which Bush has also promised to act on.

Contact:
1) Please send a signed letter to: President George W. Bush, The
White House, Washington, DC 20500
2) Please send similar letters to your Senators: (A complete list is available at www.senate.gov) US Senate, Washington, DC 20510
3) Please send a similar letter to your Representative: (A complete list is available at www.house.gov) US House of Representatives,
Washington, DC 20510

Background:
Today international debt has become a new form of slavery for more than a billion people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Debt slavery means poor people working harder and harder in a vain effort to keep up with the interest payments on debts owed to rich countries. Consider:
* More than 18,000 children die each day because loan repayments to the rich countries come before health care for the poor.
* Debt slavery is foreign aid in reverse-for every dollar sent to the poorest countries in aid, $1.30 flows back to lenders in debt service payments. (The LIVE AID concert raised $200 million for Africa-but Africa is billed more than that each week in debt repayments.)
* Rich countries have perpetuated the cycle of debt and poverty by requiring borrowers to submit to IMF and WB Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which typically reduce living standards by requiring "user fees" or "cost-sharing" for public education and health care and "privatization" (cost-sharing) of public goods such as water. 

As we assess the global situation and the human cost of debt, it is appropriate to ask, "who owes what to whom?" Jubilee USA Network is a coalition of faith-based groups and non-governmental organizations working to break the chains of debt. We are calling for complete cancellation of the crushing debts of the most heavily indebted countries, without IMF and WB conditions but with full accountability to civil society in each country. We are part of the global Jubilee movement that is now active in 69 countries.
Last October, the US Congress approved $435 million for reduction of the debts of the so-called Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).  Altogether, the richest countries and their international financial institutions have reduced developing country debt by about $34 billion. However, the HIPC countries alone are making payments on debts of over $220 billion. When other very low-income countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, Haiti, Peru, and the Philippines are included, the total is more than $350 billion. The total debt of the global South is many times greater.

Congress also approved a breakthrough provision requiring that US representatives to the IMF, WB, and regional development banks vote against and oppose any loan agreements that include "user fees" on basic education and health care for poor people. This year we are advocating for extension of this victory to include opposition to forced privatization of public water supplies.

The modest debt reduction won over the past two years has helped-in Uganda, school enrollment has doubled since user-fees on basic education were removed. The 22 countries that qualified for partial debt reduction by the end of 2000 will reduce their debt service payments by an average of about 30%. But much more is needed.  During the second campaign debate (October 12) President Bush said "I think we ought to be forgiving Third World debt under certain conditions." Bush has now added $240 million for debt reduction to his budget. Bush has also pledged action to curb the AIDS pandemic.  Challenge the President to act boldly now.Much bolder action is needed:

* AIDS campaigners estimate between $7.5-$15 billion annually is required for a minimally adequate effort to curb the AIDS epidemic in Africa alone. - The current "HIPC" debt reduction is still tied to IMF and World Bank structural adjustment programs which hurt the poor.
* Most HIPC countries will continue to spend more on debt repayments to rich countries than on health.

DROP THE MULTILATERAL DEBT NOW!
Jubilee campaigns around the world are calling for 100% cancellation of low-income developing country debt by the IMF and World Bank. The Fund, Bank and other international financial institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank are able to write-off all HIPC debt and many other low-income country debts, using their own resources, without additional taxpayer appropriations and without impairing their credit ratings or balance sheets.

Please Act Now! Contact your Members of Congress and President Bush today. Pass this Jubilee Action Alert along to others. Thank you very much!

Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof. (Leviticus 25:10)

"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.