jubileeusa.typepad.com > A Year of Advocacy & Protest

Activist Impressions: A Hummingbird's Voice, an Uphill Climb

On Monday we had the unique opportunity to hear Professor Wangari Maathai deliver an address on debt. Deliver is perhaps too weak a word. She took the stage in a beautiful fury of controlled passion and deep outrage at the West’s lack of moral response to the needs of the poor.

"How could the most powerful, the most influential bank --€“ the bank with the best minds -- lend so irresponsibly and recklessly," she asked.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/impressions_of_.html

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Burying the Debt: By the Numbers

The invisible parts of our international financial system are the tax havens, investment returns on privatization, trade and tax evasion. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is mandated with the control of capital flow, yet they do nothing about the major flaws in the system that drains capital out of the South.

For every dollar spent on aid to the Global South, $10 flows out to the north through a secret system of tax havens. In 2005 there was $11.5 trillion sitting in offshore tax havens.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/its_all_in_the_.html

Burying the Debt: Voices from the North & South

Alejandro challenged Jubilee movements in the North to not buy into the anti-corruption arguments but instead to support the ethical principle that all nations have the sovereign right to determine their own political and economic futures.

If the people of Nicaragua or any other debtor nation demand transparency and accountability from their government, their actions support and strengthen democracy.

If the IMF and WB impose anti-corruption conditions, it reinforces a colonial “the North knows best” mentality.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/voices_from_the.html

Conditionalities Hamper Debt Relief Advances

We had the opportunity to meet with several Zambian Members of Parliament.

Hon. Kambwiwi Chisamba, MP, told us, “Thanks to debt relief, we have been able to rehabilitate our schools and our hospitals. But we have made many sacrifices and we still have a long way to go.”

An updated payroll analysis suggests that such a sharp reduction in the public service cannot be realized without reducing employment in education and health care. With the assistance of the World Bank, we are carrying out more detailed work to determine the optimal size of the civil service in the medium term.

Oxfam, a member of Jubilee USA Network, assessed how IFI conditionalities hurt Zambia's education and health care systems in September 2004.

The Hon. Jacob Brighton Chongo, another Member of Parliament, told us, “When we are able to pay our teachers more, they will be more motivated. We want the government to use the proceeds from debt relief to increase wages of civil service employees like teachers and nurses. If not, we are afraid the conditions will negate the good impacts of debt relief.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/delegation_meet.html

A Church In Kibera

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Debt & Zambia's Lobotomy

In a district of over 70,000 people, Siavonga has this hospital and one mission hospital. The district hospital has 4 doctors, 16 nurses and one midwife.

The poorly funded government and the years of wage freezes by the government, imposed by the IMF, means that the government wages are not sufficient to attract doctors and nurses. The brain drain is great. Zambian doctors in Namibia make four times what they would earn in a rural area in Zambia.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/friday_january_.html

Debt Cancellation Relieves Only Some of the Burden

Pat Rumer and Dr. Evanista Kunka, the only doctor on duty at a rural Zambian hospital.

Neil Watkins wrote: In April 2006, the Zambian government abolished so-called “user fees” in all rural health clinics in Zambia, including the one we visited in Siavonga.

This meant that while before costs may have deterred the poorest from coming into the clinic, now care was free. Nurses and doctors confirmed that they had seen an increase in patients since April.

It was good to see the reality of the impacts of debt relief firsthand. And reassuring to know that debt relief is getting to many who need it in Zambia.

But as we toured the hospital, we heard from the nurses and the hospitals sole doctor that while debt relief is a good thing, there are still many challenges facing the Siavonga clinic and the health system in Zambia more generally.

As the clinic’s only doctor on duty that day, Dr. Evanista Kunka, told us, the biggest remaining challenges include:
• Having a consistent drug supply. While they were stocked up that day, sometimes they would be out of drugs for weeks or months at a time.
• Transport. The hospital was not full on the day we visited because it is the rainy season and many people who are sick can’t get from the rural areas into Siavonga. Transportation is needed to get doctors and nurses out to patients who are dying without access to case.
• Adequate pay for doctors and salaries. Doctors or nurses often leave Zambia because they can earn higher salaries in Namibia or South Africa. The “brain drain” of doctors and nurses is a serious issue facing all of Zambia.

For the full post: http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/debt_cancellati.html

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Financial Matters

We started today with a visit to the Ministry of Finance, where we met with Pamela Kasese Bwalya.

Ms. Bwalya explained to us that since 2000, Zambia’s debt has shrunk from $7 billion to about $700 million, creating space in the budget, enabling the country to do more for its people...or so we thought We learned that debt relief will free up $40 million in the 2007 budget. The priority areas for using this money includes agriculture, agriculture, water and sanitation, education and health.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/conversations_c.html

Worth A Thousand Words

A young activist holds up a protest sign during a rally against debt.

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Strength in Numbers

For every dollar spent on aid to the Global South, $10 flows out to the north through a secret system of tax havens. In 2005 there was $11.5 trillion sitting in offshore tax havens.

If we just taxed that money at a modest rate it would generate $255 billion in tax revenue. The Millennium Development Goals will cost somewhere between $45 Billion and $110 Billion to accomplish.

It seems like a simple answer to creating a world that values all life, everywhere.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/its_all_in_the_.html

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

More Than A Protest, It's a Way of Life

The afternoon found us all together in the “Big Tent” for a WSF sponsored conversation on debt. Our Kenyan hosts kicked off the meeting by singing and dancing.

Njuki Githethwa, coordinator of the Kenyan Debt Relief Network (KENDREN) kicked it off with a rousing speech emphasizing repudiation.

“To negotiate is to die.” From an explanation of ecological debt by Evonne, from Ecuador, to the history of Haiti’s debt to buy independence from France, one thing is clear: “Don’t Owe Won’t Pay” was the call by all.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/its_all_in_the_.html

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Conversations, Conditionalities & Conquering

Ms. Bwalya explained to us that since 2000, Zambia’s debt has shrunk from $7 billion to about $700 million, creating space in the budget, enabling the country to do more for its people...or so we thought We learned that debt relief will free up $40 million in the 2007 budget. The priority areas for using this money includes agriculture, agriculture, water and sanitation, education and health.

We were surprised to learn that the amount of savings was so small –- and almost all of it due to IMF debt cancellation. Based on a debt sustainability analysis by the World Bank which finds Zambia’s debt to be “sustainable,” Zambia is ineligible for more concessional credits from the World Bank. This means that World Bank debt cancellation won’t actually free up additional resources in Zambia in 2007.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/conversations_c.html

World Social Forum 2007

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, 2007 marked the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

The Strength to Cancel Debt

We ended the day with a visit to an amazing organization called Women for Change led by Emily Sikazwe. This amazing group, founded in 1992, works with more than 600 groups and more than 200,000 people in the most rural and isolated parts of Zambia. They do economic empowerment, human rights education, HIV/AIDS prevention, and advocacy.

As Emily told us, “Poverty is human made and so humans can eradicate it. Debt can be cancelled by human beings because we created it.”
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/conversations_c.html

Kibera

Maathai's speech, “The Illegitimate Debt Dialogue,” makes the case for debt cancellation, addressing the arguments of detractors who don't agree with the cancellation of illegitimate debt in the Global South and tackling the thorny issue of "repaying" unsound debt:
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/wangari_maathai.html

It Takes Children to Create the Village

AIDS orphans after their performance for the Jubilee delegation.

The Jubilee USA Delegation arrived at the World Social Forum, an annual gathering of global justice organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya. Amazingly, this is the first year the WSF has been held anywhere on the African continent.

These photos were taken by various members of the Jubilee Delegation while in Nairobi. After the WSF ends January 25, many of the delegation members will journey to Zambia, to examine firsthand how debt cancellation has helped the southern African nation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594499463358

Among Women, Among Friends

Lynne Smouse Lopez and Watoto women in Kenya during the World Social Forum in Nairobi.

We also met Jacinta who at 13 is also an orphan and lives with her grandmother. It was explained to me that she had passed her grade 8 tests, a remarkable accomplishment in the face of huge challenges. She would now be able to attend secondary school, but she faces another challenge: She will have to pay school fees because the project can not provide her education at the secondary level.

Jacinta is one of the orphans who is supported by Watoto Wa Nuia, a project connecting Americans with children orphaned by AIDS. This assistance helps to sustain her, but it remains to be seen as to whether it will be enough for school. Debt cancellation would certainly help eliminate school fees for her and other school-age children in Kenya, bringing the opportunity of studying for a college or university degree. Debt cancellation would also help fund better medical care for Kenyans infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/a_kiberia_awake.html

It's Cold Out, but Liberia's Debt Cancellation is Worth It!

On a cold, cold afternoon Jubilee USA, Africa Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth, Church World Service and the AFL-CIO held a rally outside the U.S. Treasury building calling for the immediate cancellation of Liberia's debt. After the rally ended, the group walked into the U.S. Treasury for a meeting with Treasury officials.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594525213863/

Medical Students Heart Liberia

One of the students from American Medical Students Association joined the protest in front of U.S. Treasury.

On a cold, cold afternoon Jubilee USA, Africa Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth, Church World Service and the AFL-CIO held a rally outside the U.S. Treasury building calling for the immediate cancellation of Liberia's debt. After the rally ended, the group walked into the U.S. Treasury for a meeting with Treasury officials. The outcome? A few days later (Feb. 13) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced during the Liberia's "partners forum" that the U.S. will cancel its part of Liberia bilateral debt. "The United States currently holds $391 million in outstanding bilateral claims from Liberia. We will cancel that debt -- all of it," Rice told the conference. She added, "We hope this will enable the [Liberian] government to direct more of its resources toward reconstruction and development."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594525213863/

Dear Secretary Paulson...

Saif Rahman, IPS, and Neil Watkins, Jubilee USA Network.

On a cold, cold afternoon Jubilee USA, Africa Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth, Church World Service and the AFL-CIO held a rally outside the U.S. Treasury building calling for the immediate cancellation of Liberia's debt. After the rally ended, the group walked into the U.S. Treasury for a meeting with Treasury officials.

The outcome? A few days later (Feb. 13) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced during the Liberia's "partners forum" that the U.S. will cancel its part of Liberia bilateral debt. "The United States currently holds $391 million in outstanding bilateral claims from Liberia. We will cancel that debt -- all of it," Rice told the conference. She added, "We hope this will enable the [Liberian] government to direct more of its resources toward reconstruction and development."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594525213863/

Are 10,000 Valentines Enough?

On a cold, cold afternoon Jubilee USA, Africa Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Friends of the Earth, Church World Service and the AFL-CIO held a rally outside the U.S. Treasury building calling for the immediate cancellation of Liberia's debt. After the rally ended, the group walked into the U.S. Treasury for a meeting with Treasury officials.

The outcome? A few days later (Feb. 13) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced during the Liberia's "partners forum" that the U.S. will cancel its part of Liberia bilateral debt. "The United States currently holds $391 million in outstanding bilateral claims from Liberia. We will cancel that debt -- all of it," Rice told the conference. She added, "We hope this will enable the [Liberian] government to direct more of its resources toward reconstruction and development."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157594525213863/

Advice on Advocacy from the Grassroots

Pat Pelham and Elaine VanCleave from Bread for the World, dole advice and tips for a successful meeting with members of Congress during the second plenary, "Legislative Strategies on Debt."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157600375621912/detail/

Underneath the Fun, There's Work to be Done

Jubilee partners and supporters take a break from workshops to eat and enjoy the conversation.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/06/stories_from_th_4.html#more

Patricia Davila

Patricia Davila from the Ecuador Finance Ministry and also the director of the Ecuador Debt Audit Commission.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157600375621912/

USSF March

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157600787299995/

Under the Africa Tent at USSF

Emira Woods of IPS with a fellow activist

The Africa Tent at the US Social Forum was also the site of the American Friends Service Committee 4th Annual Bill Sutherland Institute, which educates and trains future Africa advocates.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/07/under-the-boab-.html

Reflections from USSF

Imani Countess, director of AFSC's Life Over Debt program, and her children with other Africa advocates during the USSF march.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/07/reflections-fro.html

Jubilee Grassroots Conference

Dick Heidkamp, Jubilee Chicago, and Rick Rowden, ActionAid USA, pay close attention to Jubilee Iraq's presentation on debt, oil and militarism.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157600375621912/

The Words of Rev. David Duncombe

Rev. David Duncombe reads over his speech moments before the Prayer Breakfast begins.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157602531370534/

Rep. Spencer Bachus at the Prayer Breakfast

Rep. Spencer Bachus talks debt cancellation at the Jubilee USA Prayer Breakfast. Watch his full speech at http://youtube.com/watch?v=1tvy6An5wMM

Rep. Donald Payne

Rep. Donald Payne breaks his fast. See Prayer Breakfast highlights at http://youtube.com/watch?v=j1M-H0vz1nQ.

Rep. Maxine Waters at the Prayer Breakfast

Watch Rep. Maxine Waters' full speech online at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=s-UXOXWXykg.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver at the Prayer Breakfast

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver speaks at Jubilee USA's Prayer Breakfast. Watch his speech online at http://youtube.com/watch?v=FOSgIkNYchI.

Legislative Staffers Announce the Senate Bill

http://youtube.com/watch?v=njQmsGUW9Bk

Tanzanian Ambassador Ombeni Sefue

Tanzanian Ambassador Ombeni Sefue speaks at the Jubilee USA Prayer Breakfast. Watch his full speech online at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=f_ydcHpx-_I

Prayer Breakfast

Africa Action team at the Prayer Breakfast. Visit the link below for Prayer Brekfast highlights: http://youtube.com/watch?v=j1M-H0vz1nQ.

Rabbi Michael Lerner at the Prayer Breakfast

Watch his full speech online: http://youtube.com/watch?v=UYF8IMOyxls.

Stand Up & Urge Your Rep/Senator to Support the Jubilee Act

Jubilee Act supporters talk before going to their meetings with members of Congress.

Stand Up Against Debt & Global Poverty

Meaghan, Ida, monet, and Mercedes after taking the Stand Up! Against Debt photo.

Stand Up!

Thomas Chupin, American Friends Service Committee policy fellow

Stand Up, Jubilee!

Group Stand Up photo sponsored by the UN Millennium Campaign.

Jubilee USA 10th Birthday Celebration

Haiti's Crushing Debt

Father Jean Pierre speaks at “Proclaiming Jubilee: Overcoming a history of debt injustice in Haiti & Africa,” a forum co-sponsored by Jubilee USA, NAACP, and Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami. The forum highlighted the responsibility of U.S. citizens and the US government to take action to cancel debts and to end a long history of debt injustice.

http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/11/haiti-forum-in-.html

Haiti Forum Promotes Unity & Presses for Change

Brad Brown, vice president, NAACP-Miami/Dade Chapter
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/11/haiti-forum-in-.html

Must Haiti starve its children to pay its debts?

Marleine Bastiene, Founder of Fanm Ayisyen Nan Miyami (Haitian Women United) speaks at “Proclaiming Jubilee: Overcoming a history of debt injustice in Haiti & Africa,” a forum on economic justice issues facing Haiti and the African diaspora.

* 80 percent of Haitians live in extreme poverty
* 1 in 9 Haitian children die before age five
* 47 percent of Haitians are malnourished
* Haiti ranked last in the Western Hemisphere in health care spending
* The number one killer of children in Haiti is dirty water

All of this and, yet, Haiti continues to pay $56 million every year in debt service to the World Bank, the IMF, and the U.S. government.

Haiti's debt is like an albatross around the country's neck. Debt is a form of present-day slavery keeping a people in chains; it is like the elephant in the room in any discussion on Haiti, its people, and its future! If the United States wants more Haitians coming here, it will NOT cancel Haiti's debt. If it wants to do what is right for justice, decency, Haiti's recovery, and common sense, it will cancel this debt now.

http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/11/haiti-forum-in-.html

Ulrich Duchrow at Jubilee USA Prayer Breakfast

German theologian Ulrich Duchrow speaks at the Jubilee USA Prayer Breakfast. Watch his speech live at http://youtube.com/watch?v=vymxgTjYCr8.

Burying the Debt: From A Bullhorn to Your Ears

On Monday we had the unique opportunity to hear Professor Wangari Maathai deliver an address on debt. Deliver is perhaps too weak a word. She took the stage in a beautiful fury of controlled passion and deep outrage at the West'€™s lack of moral response to the needs of the poor.

http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/01/impressions_of_.html

Kibera: Examining Another Realities

Kibera, a sprawling 600-acre stretch of land (comparably the size of Central Park in New York City) home to more than 800,000 residents, is often billed as the world’s “largest slum”.

During the tour Jubilee USA delegates spoke with residents, listened to the tour director give Kibera’s history, and learned of what’s being done (and not done) in the settlement to empower its residents.

http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/02/kibera_slum_tou.html

Jubilee USA Grassroots Conference

The first plenary of Day Two: Race to 2015: Debt, Global Justice & th MDGs. From left, Carol Welch, UN Millennium Campaign; Mhizha Chifamba, Washington Office on Africa; and Pat Rumer, Jubilee USA co-chair and Jubilee Oregon co-founder. Photo by Michael Imasua.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24094845@N00/sets/72157600375621912/detail/

Across the African Continent in Atlanta

Evelyn Sallah (second from right), Public Education and Mobilization program associate, Africa Action: What I’m looking for is mentorship, information sharing and finding out how to build social movements. It may seem like people are intellectually up to date, but I don’t think that people are really educated on social movements…people are apathetic. Public education is key and learning how to plug people into the movement in a way that isn’t condescending.
http://jubileeusa.typepad.com/blog_the_debt/2007/07/under-the-boab-.html