Church World Service calls for Jubilee legislation to tackle debt's unfinished agenda

July 9, 2007

Jubilee USA interns Noel Estes and Juliet Muriuki at the grassroots conference. Photo: William Owusu/Jubilee USA Network

For every dollar Africa receives in aid, it pays out $2.30 in debt service.

The Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation introduced in the House of Representatives last month addresses issues such as this, still pending seven years after the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign.

Church World Service joins with Jubilee USA Network in calling on Members of Congress in the House to support improved creditor behavior and debt cancellation in impoverished countries by co-sponsoring the Jubilee Act.The Network and its partner organizations are currently working to bring this bill to a hearing at the House Financial Services Committee and introduce a companion bill in the Senate. The Jubilee Act is the centerpiece of the Jubilee USA Network's 2007 Sabbath year campaign.

Only 40 countries are eligible under current debt relief schemes, and of those 40, only 20 have actually had their debts cancelled.

Sub-Saharan Africa has repaid 90 percent of the $294 billion received in loans between 1970 and 2002. However, high interest rates and unjust lending practices have left $201 billion in debt remaining, totaling $14 billion of annual debt service for all Sub-Saharan nations combined. Even with the small steps taken to cancel debt so far, Uganda has been able to double its school enrollment and Mozambique has vaccinated 500,000 children. Burundi was able to eliminate school fees in 2005, allowing an additional 300,000 children to gain access to education.

The Jubilee Act calls for expanded debt cancellation for 67 of the world's most impoverished countries. This is crucial for these countries to have any success at meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

H.R. 2634 also requires that harmful economic conditions be removed from debt cancellation, such as those requiring impoverished countries to privatize much-needed resources or freeze all hiring and salaries for health care workers. Countries would be further enabled to channel resources towards poverty alleviation without these harmful conditions.

The Jubilee Act calls for an audit of lending to those impoverished countries that have demonstrably odious or illegitimate debts such as Haiti and Liberia.

Tessa Barnes of the CWS Great Rivers/St. Louis Regional Office with the CWS display at the conference. Photo: J. Young/CWS

“This bill will expand existing debt cancellation programs for the world's poorest countries and ensure that the benefits from debt cancellation will not be eroded by future lending to these impoverished countries,” said Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Committee on Financial Services as she introduced the Act with Representative Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. Bachus said debt relief was not a total solution to poverty, hunger, and disease, but a necessary first step.

In June Church World Service staff from the Great Rivers/St. Louis Regional Office participated in Jubilee's Grassroots Conference where advocates from around the country delved more deeply into debt issues and planned actions to achieve greater political will for debt cancellation.

Tessa Barnes of the CWS Great Rivers Office networked with debt advocates from around the country and heard first-hand accounts of the impact of debt from African conference participants. “There are many actions we can take to proclaim Jubilee, and urge policy makers to restore right relations with our neighbors around the world,” she said.

Upcoming Jubilee Year activities include a global week of action to end the debt crisis October 14-20, and a 40 day “Rolling Fast” for debt cancellation. Church World Service will provide information about how to participate in upcoming events and actions. Additional information can be found at the Jubilee USA Network site - www.jubileeusa.org.