Now, this is interesting. What's wrong with this picture?
(Or, better, why hasn't there been more change over time between these two pictures?)
Jubilee and the Ebola Crisis
Hi Everybody,
Occasionally some of you ask me for updates on what Jubilee USA is
doing these days. Some of you may recall that a few months ago I posted a petition for people to sign with their local organization to help
Jubilee as a signatory on a case of Argentina being sued for some
old (and very large) debts that was coming before the US Supreme
Court. And many of you signed that, thank you.
I don't think I ever got back to all of you about how that
came out. Maybe it was because I was disappointed in the results, but unfortunately Jubilee (and more importantly, Argentina) lost the case.
To update you on what happened, here are links to two things you can read.
First is my original blog post about it, "Jubilee,
Argentina, and the Supreme Court," which gives some of the
background on where the debt came from and who was now suing to be
paid. And the second is an article from the New York Times, "Argentina's
Debt Case, No Winners, but a Lot of Losers" (11/21/14), which
gives some of the follow up story after the fact. It was a great
loss, but one cannot give up. There are many more places and issues that need
our work and our help.
Today, I'm sending you information about another important issue
that Jubilee has been working on for several years that has just now
broken open. It will be of enormous help to countries in West Africa
that have been stricken with the human and financial losses due to
Ebola, and yet still have to pay out millions every year to pay of
their aging historic debts. The news is that after years of our
lobbying and urging, the IMF announced just this morning that it was
offering a financial aid package to these countries of $330 million,
$160 of which will be loans (but at very modest rates), and $170
million in straight debt cancellation.
I have pasted below a press release about the story, plus click
here for a news article about it. Jubilee's director, Eric LeCompte is quoted extensively in the article. You might have also heard him interviewed on NPR and PBS recently as the settlement was being announced. To paraphrase Vice
President Biden, "this is a big #$%&* deal."
And finally, here is a plug. Jubilee USA is one of the most
remarkable, effective, faith-based, but under-the-radar
organizations in the US. It does a tremendous amount of amazing good
work for millions of people around the world. But very few people
(at least in the US) have ever heard of it. If any of you would ever
like to learn more, or join, or become a "Jubilee
Congregation," let me know. I'm willing to come speak at a
Conference or Regional gathering, and would gladly talk with you by
phone or email about what they do and how individuals like you can
be involved. Just let me know.
Commercial's over--now back to work. I just got home from two weeks
in Cuba, and have thousands of more mundane things like laundry and
grocery shopping to get around to.
Be well and be faithful and don't ever give up. If it ever feels
like this is a dark time for people of faith and conscience to be
working for justice and human rights, think for a moment what the
health of the world would be like if your work had not been added to
it. Life can be, and would be, much darker without the inputs and
wisdom and courage of people like you. I'm convinced that the cosmic
conscience of humanity thanks you.
Blessings,
Stan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2015
Available for interview: Eric LeCompte, Executive
Director
Contact: Sophia Har, Communications Director
IMF Plan Offers $170 Million in
Debt Relief for Ebola-Impacted West Africa
IMF Debt
Facility Can Now Aid World's Poorest Countries During Crises
Washington DC -
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is
providing
$330 million of financing to aid Ebola-impacted countries. The
plan
includes $170 million of debt relief and grant-like aid for
Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Guinea. The new plan also expands a debt relief
facility previously used to cancel debt after Haiti's 2010
earthquake.
The new expanded facility, the Catastrophe Containment and
Relief
Trust (CCR), is now a permanent debt relief facility for the
world's
poorest countries when they experience shocks such as epidemics
or
natural disasters.
"This aid is so vital for the
countries affected by Ebola," said Eric LeCompte, Executive
Director
of the religious anti-poverty organization Jubilee USA
Network. "Now
we have a permanent debt relief vehicle for when the poorest
countries
face certain crises. Essentially, a global social safety net
is now in
place to protect the least developed countries when they
experience
disasters."
$100
million of debt relief will come through the IMF's new
Catastrophe
Containment and Relief Trust. Another $70 million in debt relief
will
come from other governments who hold debt in the three
countries.
Concessional loans of $160 million add up to a grand total of
$330
million in new financing. The package also includes a new
financing
mechanism designed to deliver funds to disaster-impacted
countries
quickly without worsening debt burdens.
"This new
fund is an important, permanent tool in the fight against
poverty,"
noted LeCompte, who serves on United Nations expert groups on
debt and
global finance. "It means resources for countries that need
them most
at the time they need them most."
Jubilee USA
moved the IMF to create the Post Catastrophe Debt Relief Trust
(PCDR)
after Haiti's 2010 earthquake and to finance the fund through
windfall
gold sales. Jubilee USA urged the US government to call on the
IMF to
use the fund for Ebola-impacted countries. In November, the
White
House asked the IMF to grant $100 million in debt relief through
the
fund and took its proposal to the G20. At the G20 summit, the
IMF
agreed to the $300 million package, which its board now
approved.
The Fund's plan includes a new innovation: rapidly
distributing loans to countries in need and then using debt
relief to
provide grant-like aid. The $100 million in debt relief - which
represents roughly 20% of the countries' quotas at the Fund - is
designed to offset any increased debt burden from emergency
loans. Prior to the announcement, Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea
owed a combined $372 million to the IMF. The three countries
have a
combined total debt stock of over $3 billion; much of that debt
comes
from dictatorships, civil wars and one-party rule. The three
countries paid a total of $81 million in debt service in 2013.
In
2012, Guinea, where the outbreak began, spent more money on debt
than
on public health.
"Tonight I'm toasting the IMF and
the White House," said LeCompte. "Unfortunately the World Bank
has remained silent in the face of this crisis. I pray they
follow the
IMF's lead."
Read the IMF's
announcement.
Read more about Ebola debt relief.
Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75
US organizations and 400 faith communities working with 50
Jubilee
global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that
serves,
protects and promotes the participation of the most
vulnerable.
Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more
than
$130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest
people.
www.jubileeusa.org
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