Many of you will remember 16 May 1998 when over 70,000 people formed a human chain around Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and other world leaders at the G8 Summit in Birmingham, calling for a debt free start to the new millennium for the world’s poorest countries. Indeed a good number of St James’ congregation were there and at subsequent public events.

Jubilee Debt Campaign is holding an international day of action on 16 May 2004, following the success of World Debt Day in Birmingham a year ago. As 16 May falls on a Sunday this year, there’s a real opportunity for every local congregation to reflect on the issue once more. Excellent worship materials can be downloaded from the JDC Website.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has sent a message of support:
“I wish Jubilee Debt Campaign every blessing for their World Debt Day. On Sunday 16 May, we can, as individual Christians, and together in churches and communities, reflect on the problems of world debt, share in thanksgiving for what has been achieved and ask for God’s blessing on our continued struggle for a fairer and more just global economy.”
World Debt Day gives us a chance not only to celebrate the debt cancellation already achieved, but also to take a sober look at the financial burdens still shackling poor countries.

In December 2000 the UK government cancelled all bilateral debt owed to it by highly indebted countries, many of which have now benefited from partial debt cancellation at the international level. In a recent letter to JDC, the President of Tanzania describes how this has greatly helped his country’s education and health sectors. A laminated copy of this letter is in church and I encourage you to take the time to read it.

The less good news is that the goal of sustainable debt levels has still not been reached. Many highly indebted countries still owe large sums of money to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank – known as multilateral debt. As G8 governments have majority share control of these institutions, civil society in each G8 country still has a major role to play. JDC wants us to send Call for Change postcards to Gordon Brown, asking that the UK lead the way by cancelling its share of this outstanding multilateral debt. To put the amount of money in context, it would cost each of us only £3 per year over the next 10 years to cancel the UK’s share of this multilateral debt.

I hope you will complete and send a Call for Change card, as well as the Christian Aid Week postcard for trade justice. By exercising our democratic freedom, each one of us is able to do something beyond the ever-important task of giving and collecting money."

Source: Ann Peterken, The Spire Magazine - 2004 May