|
Our father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done On earth, as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread, Forgive us our debts... As We Forgive Our Debtors I come from a country, Zambia, where every woman, man and child owes US$750 in external debt. [Per capita income in Zambia is just over $250--Ed.]. What this means is lack of educational opportunities, inadequate health care facilities, poor housing, water and sanitation structures, insufficient productive investments for promoting jobs, etc. These are the serious wounds that Zambians experience because of debt and the demand for debt servicing.... The debt problem is not simply an economic issue. It is fundamentally an ethical issue because it is radically a human problem, affecting the well-being of families, the survival of the poor, the bonds of community, and the security of the future. --Archbishop Medardo Mazombwe of Zambia (Speaking at the Conference on the Ethical Dimensions of International Debt, Seton Hall University, New Jersey, October 22-23, 1998.) The debt burden of sub-Saharan Africa is about $215 billion -- not even a tenth of the total debt owed by developing countries. Yet for these impoverished countries, external debt crushes the lives and dignity of children, women, and men who live on the margins of existence. The governments of these countries, scarcely able to pay for sanitation systems, health care, or primary education, are forced to make debt service payments instead of investing in human development. They do this just to preserve their financial standing in the global economy. In most cases, those who bear the burden of repaying the debt had no voice in the decision to borrow and did not benefit from it. In some cases, the borrowed funds ere wasted, used for extravagant activities, or even stolen by unprincipled officials. Yet, because the international community has no equivalent to a bankruptcy court, public official that misuse public funds are not held personally accountable. The financial protection offered to bankrupt individuals or local governments is also non-existent for bankrupt countries. In this situation, the most poor and vulnerable suffer the most, as their governments reschedule loans and continue repaying debt service to creditor governments, the World Bank, the IMF, and other international financial institutions--at the expense of investing in human development. The Year 2000 is nearly here, and the Pope and others throughout the world are calling for debt forgiveness as a concrete sign of the biblical concept of Jubilee. In the Old Testament, the Jubilee happened every 50 years. It was a time to start over and to reestablish relations of justice. Today, it is a time for wealthy and poor nations to work together in solidarity to find a solution to the problem of international debt. All over the world, religious groups, development organizations, and many others are joining forces to advocate the cancellation of debt in the year 2000. In the U.S., some organizations that are part of Jubilee 2000 USA have worked hard on a bill now in Congress, H.R. 1095, that would offer significantly more debt relief for more countries in a shorter amount of time than what is currently offered through an existing program of the World Bank and IMF known as the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative. H.R. 1095 ensures that the resources freed through debt relief are put into a Human Development Fund to be used for basic needs. The fund would be established and monitored by civil society organizations, the government, and creditors, to ensure that development priorities are adhered to. In June, the leaders of the wealthiest nations of the world are gathering in Cologne, Germany, to discuss world economic matters, including debt. What can you do to support the goals of jubilee? The most urgent task for summer 1999 is to get co-sponsors for the new legislation, H.R. 1095, also known as the "Debt Relief for Poverty Reduction Act of 1999." Further support in the Senate will also be needed. The second task is to pressure the World Bank, IMF, and most importantly, the U.S. Treasury to expand the HIPC Initiative to give more debt relief to more countries in a shorter time. And the third critical element is to educate the people you work with about debt and its impact on poverty in the world's most vulnerable countries. You can get more information about these initiatives on these websites:
The debt crisis must be addressed if large segments of the world's population are to avoid a future of marginalization, despair and hopelessness. Let's try to make the words of Pope John Paul II concrete: "In the spirit of the book of Leviticus, Christians will have to raise their voice on behalf of all the poor of the world, proposing the Jubilee as an appropriate time to give thought, among other things, to reducing substantially, if not canceling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations." (Tertio Millennio Adveniente, 1994, # 51.) Konen is Policy Advisor, Office of International Justice and Peace, U.S. Catholic Conference © World Hunger Education Service |
