Blog the Debt

Jubilee Deputy Director Speaks Amongst Anti-Poverty Leaders

                   Panelists: Arthur Keys, Katherine Marshall, Rev. Linda Lader (moderator),                    Melinda St. Louis, David Beckman. 

Last Wednesday, our deputy director, Melinda St. Louis, was invited by YaleDivinity School to discuss poverty reduction as part of the school's 40-day "Mobilizing Faith, Fighting Poverty" initiative. She served on a panel with Arthur Keys, President and CEO of International Relief and Development, Katherine Marshall, Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue of Georgetown University, and David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a Yale Alumnus, gave the keynote address.

"Melinda St. Louis, deputy director of Jubilee USA, which rallies people of faith to advocate debt relief of poor countries, shared details of a petition now circulating that calls on President Obama and the U.S. government to "lead global efforts to transform the global economy, recognizing our responsibility as our sisters' and brothers' keepers." The "1,000 Faith Leaders Initiative" hopes to secure the signatures of 1,000 religious leaders by June. The petition says we must "repair the historical injustices that impoverish the poorest and enrich the wealthiest" and "work to end the cycle that leads to debt crises. "

Click here to read the rest of the article. 

Photo by Aubrey Gemignani courtesy of Yale Divinity School. 

International Women’s Day - A Chance for Jubilee Justice

By Julia Dowling

International Women’s day always makes me feel torn.  On one hand, one day set aside for global recognition of the contributions made by and challenges facing  women and girls has never seemed so critical.  There seems to be a war on women everywhere: sexual health services are being cut in the United States while the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo rages on, where 15,000 women were raped just last year.  But on the other hand, I often think “shouldn’t every day be international women’s day?” 

Goal three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) aims to do just this – make every day a day for women by eliminating gender disparity and empowering women.  The goal is to “eliminate the gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and to all levels of education no later than 2015.”  The United Nations highlights education as the key to empowerment for girls and women, both in a traditional sense of schooling but also through wider educational efforts to inform men and boys of gender issues and increase gender sensitivity.

How is this relevant to Jubilee’s work though?  Well, debt cancellation plays a critical role in helping to achieve Millennium Development Goal #3 through dramatically increasing access to basic education.  Before the debt cancellation arrangements of 1999 and 2005, many poor countries were forced to charge school fees for primary education by the International Financial Institutions.  When push came to shove and poor families could afford to send just some of their children to school, the boys were often selected over the girls to attend primary school.  Thanks to such school fees, a whole generation of young and promising girls lost their chance to attend school because the education of their male counterparts was deemed more valuable. 

Even after these deplorable conditions were lifted thanks to global outcry, impoverished governments had little extra revenue to spend on education after paying huge sums of debt service to international creditors.  Debt cancellation meant that school fees were removed and resources once used to pay debts were freed up to be used toward the health and education sectors. 

In Tanzania, children attending school increased by 50%.  The country was able to build nearly 2,500 more schools and hire 28,000 more teachers.  Children passing primary school increased from under 20% to over 40% within four years after the country received debt cancellation. 

Just as debt cancellation isn’t Jubilee’s only concern, MDG #3 won’t be achieved simply by increasing women and girl’s presence in the classroom.  Broader economic justice reforms are necessary if we want to truly change the structures that cause gender disparity and sexism.  This means changing the international financial system to include the most vulnerable people, especially women from the Global South.  On all levels, we need to confront the biases that hold women back from receiving the health, education, and employment opportunities they deserve. 

This year’s annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days conference focuses on Women and Gender, and just how we can achieve MDG #3.  Join us from March 25-28, where Jubilee will join partner organizations and more than 800 activists from across the country to explore ways to bring economic justice, education, and health to billions of vulnerable women around the world.

Images Courtesy of UNICEF and End Poverty 2015

Tax Evasion: How the Poor Pay for the Powerful

 

Ghanian Shop Owner Marta Luttgrodt pays more actual income tax for selling SAB Miller beer than the entire multinational corporation     

By Raina Davis and Katherine Philipson 

In his State of the Union Address last month, President Obama expressed concerns about the effects of tax evasion on American small businesses. He stated, "Over the years, a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code to benefit particular companies and industries. Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all. But all the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and it has to change." 

Around the world, corporate tax evasion unfairly shifts the burden of taxation onto small businesses and individuals, and limits governments’ revenue to spend on necessities and development. In the United States, two-thirds of American corporations paid no income tax at all between 1998 and 2005.