How do things look at the start of the last
year of the Jubilee 2000 campaign?
The Good News
• At the 1999 G8 Summit in Cologne, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Initiative (HIPC) was enhanced to allow for debt cancellation of $l00
billion.
• Bill Clinton announced last September that
the USA would act unilaterally to cancel 100% of the debts owed to
the USA (up from the 90% agreed via enhanced HIPC in Cologne). This
was a clear statement that the Cologne deal was not enough and that
other nations should do likewise.
• Our own UK government has been reluctant to make any unilateral
cancellation of debt, preferring to work through the multilateral
framework of the G8. There are growing signs they may match Clinton's
action on debts owed directly to the UK. Perhaps even by the time
you read this update?
• Jubilee 2000 has often criticised the conditions imposed on
debtor countries by the IMF - ESAFs for those of you in the know!
But things are changing at the IMF, not least their Managing Director.
Last September they announced a new Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
to replace ESAF. This is potentially a breakthrough which, if actions
live up to words, could integrate debt relief to the achievement of
the 2015 poverty reduction targets. But the jury is still out...
• During a talk last November, Stephen Pound MP (Ealing North)
said how extraordinarily refreshing it was to receive so many letters
from constituents over an issue with no self interest. As individuals
we can make a difference - our voice can be heard. Please help to
make a difference.
The Not So Good
News
• Enhanced HIPC (agreed in June 1999) covers under half of the
debt that the Jubilee 2000 campaign says needs to be cancelled to
really make a difference. Further enhancement is essential.
• The HIPC process is too slow. Since its inception in 1996,
HIPC debt relief has only gone to - Uganda, Mozambique. Bolivia and
Guyana. Last September the Pope said: "We have to ask why progress
in resolving the debt problem is still so slow. Why the difficulty
in providing the funds needed even for the already agreed initiatives?
It is the poor who pay the cost of indecision and delay."
• In November 1999 Congress approved funding for the 100% cancellation
of debt owed to the USA, but has backed down on the $600 million Clinton
pledged for the HIPC Trust Fund as part of the deal agreed in Cologne.
The implication is that the USA is making political capital out of
the headline figures of 100% write-off putting this ahead of, and
at the expense of, the Cologne deal.
The Road Ahead
23rd July 2000 is the last day of the Millennium G8 Summit in Okinawa,
Japan, the day on which our world leaders can show the world they
are truly committed to debt relief that makes a difference. The last
year of the campaign will be a busy one as it pushes for agreement
on a fully comprehensive, fully funded debt relief initiative. It's
not over yet.
Source: Ann Peterken, The Spire Magazine - 2000 January
Jubilee
2000 - What Happens Now?
The year 2000 has witnessed a lack of vision from the G7 leaders in
Okinawa and the international financial institutions. But some very
good news came in late October when Congress finally approved America's
contribution to the fund that will finance the debt relief pledges
made at Cologne in 1999. See what one of the main opponents, Republican
Senator Phil Gramm, had to say:
"I do not think since Constantine the Great caled his ecumenical
council in Nicaea there has been a larger gathering of holy people
in one place than the people who came to see me about supporting debt
forgiveness."
We must remember the Cologne pledges
will only cancel about $100bn of debt and it will take until at least
2005 for this to be delivered, as eligible countries proceed through
the process. Jubilee 2000 says at least $350bn must be cancelled to
make a real difference and that at least another thirty countries,
excluded from the current process, need urgent debt relief. There
is clearly more work to be done.
In addition to achieving some debt
cancellation, Jubilee 2000 has revealed some very important lessons.
Firstly, that if advocacy on development issues is to be effective,
it must be co-ordinated globally, between civil society in the north
and south. Secondly, that working together in a coalition has achieved
much more than lots of individual efforts. Just see what President
Clinton said in September:
"It's given us a coalition that
I would give anything to see formed around other issues, and issues
here at home - anything. It could change the nature of the whole political
debate in America because of something they did together that they
all believe so deeply in."
A third important lesson is that
ordinary people can grasp and lobby elites on complex financial issues.
Jubilee 2000's approach and work, based on the respect and expectation
that ordinary people can understand these issues, has been ground-breaking
and must be built on.
Jubilee 2000 was designed as a short-life
campaign, with a clear objective and deadline - the cancellation of
the unpayable debts of the poorest countries by the year 2000. This
clarity of purpose has given the campaign a particular dynamic, urgency
and energy. The deadline is now nearly with us and the Jubilee 2000
Coalition is ending, with a final public rally in Westminster on 2
December.
But debt campaigning will continue
- the baton is being passed on. Here is how.
Jubilee
Plus
Under the umbrella of the New Economics Foundation, Ann Pettifor,
Director of Jubilee 2000, and two colleagues will research the international
financial system, re-design strategies and plan a fresh challenge.
They will be listening to people from the South and maintaining the
international co-ordination work of Jubilee 2000. Remember that campaigns
in other countries, especially in Latin America and Africa, have been
growing in strength and taking courage from the strong lead by northern
campaigners. These southern campaigns continue.
Drop
the Debt
Adrian Lovett, deputy director of Jubilee 2000, is planning a short-term
campaign to maximise pressure on the G7 before and during the Genoa
summit in Italy next July. There have been strong indications that
the Italian government want to bring forward a new initiative on debt.
Debt
Network
Christian Aid are proposing a network employing one person full-time
to ensure co-ordination of the ongoing UK work on debt. Many other
agencies that were part of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition will continue
to campaign on debt cancellation, at least until the next G7 Summit.
Source: Ann Peterken, The Spire Magazine
- 2000 December
