This month we officially launch the Sabbath Year, seven years after the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign, with Jubilee Sunday, January 21.
If you haven’t already made plans in your congregation, visit our Sabbath Year page on the Jubilee website and contact our Outreach and Congregations Fellow Nate Fishman at 202.546.4470 or nathan@jubileeusa.org here in our Sabbath Year headquarters.
In concert with the Institute for Policy Studies, one of our network partners, we'll be collecting Valentine hearts addressed to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to “Have a Heart and Cancel Liberia's Debt!”
We'll deliver those hearts to Secretary Paulson on February 6, one week before the February 13-14 Liberia donors conference in Washington, D.C.
WE HEART LIBERIA
To get involved with this important and timely (and fun) push to cancel Liberia’s debt, all it takes is some red construction paper and a little creativity!
Look for opportunities in your community to set up a “Have a Heart” Valentines table. Possibilities for tabling include in your church, at local meetings, conferences, or community gatherings. This action is also an opportunity to involve children in work for economic justice and would make a wonderful classroom project.
Jubilee Sunday, January 21, is a great opportunity to involve congregations in the effort. Special Jubilee Sunday worship materials can be found on the Jubilee Sunday Congregations page.
The message that should be written on the hearts is simple: “Secretary Paulson, Have a Heart and Cancel Liberia's Debt!”
Be sure to have people sign their name and include their address so that Secretary Paulson can see that people from all across the country have a “heart” for this issue and want him to take action.
Your heart and any hearts that you collect should be mailed to Saif Rahman at the Institute for Policy Studies. To ensure that the Valentine arrive in time, please be sure to mail them no later than January 31! Send your hearts to:
Saif Rahman
Institute for Policy Studies
Liberia Valentines
1112 16th St. N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036
We’ll personally deliver the Valentines to U.S. Treasury on February 6, to send a message prior to the February 13-14 Liberia donors conference in Washington. We will also hold a call-in day to U.S. Treasury on February 6 to reinforce our message. Stay tuned for more details about the February 6 Call-In Day.
If you have any questions, please contact Jubilee's Outreach & Congregations Fellow Nate Fishman at 202.546.4470 or nathan@jubileeusa.org.
THE REASON WHY
Led by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first democratically elected female president, Liberia is working to overcome the devastation caused by two decades of dictatorship and a civil war.
Much of Liberia's debts were incurred by the undemocratic regimes of dictators Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor between 1980 and 2003.
Currently, Liberia’s debt totals around $3.5 billion. Liberia's annual budget is less than one fortieth of that amount, and interest continues to accumulate.
President George W. Bush and the international community have repeatedly pledged their support and aid to help the country rebuild, but so far they have stopped short of cancelling Liberia's unjust and un-payable debt.
Rich country creditors are currently insisting that Liberia make $1.5 billion in back payments and accumulated interest or “arrears” before it can become eligible for any debt relief or cancellation.
At the current payment rate, this would take literally over a thousand years!
Get the facts and download our Liberia Fact Sheet for more information about Liberia’s debt.
