The Jubilee Blog

No More Shadows: Press and Parliament Put Spotlight on Vulture Funds

This week, international press and the British Parliament are putting vulture funds in the spotlight. No more hiding in the shadows for these shady businesses. Tomorrow the British Parliament will vote on the UK's version of legislation that will curb the harmful practices of vulture funds. Read more about the vote tomorrow from our partners at Jubilee Debt Campaign on OneWorld.

Read this article in The Guardian today and make sure you check out the BBC broadcast tonight (see below):

The Guardian: Liberian leader urges MPs to back action against vulture funds
Liberia's president calls on MPs to support bill that would bar vulture funds from pursuing debts of poorer nations in UK courts

By Heather Stewart and Greg Palast  

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, is urging MPs to back a bill banning vulture funds from using British courts to prey on poor countries when it comes to a vote on Friday .

Liberia lost a $20m (£13m) case in London last year against two so-called vultures. Such funds buy up the loans of poor governments, wait for them to win debt relief from the international community, and then use courts to pursue the countries for assets.

Delivering Real Change: Reflections on our Week of Action

By Grace Mbungu, Organizing and Outreach Intern

Last week was the Change Not Chains Campaign Week of Action.  As thousands of Americans called to talk to their Representatives about supporting the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation, I helped deliver thousands of postcards that Jubilee supporters sent to their Members of Congress. Walking in and out of 50 Representatives’ offices was a great and unique experience. As a Kenyan, I have not yet been able to do this with my own government.

As a first time intern with Jubilee USA, I have come to a clear understanding that change does not come easily, but with consistent commitment and hard work.  The Change Not Chains Campaign to help pass the Jubilee Act is a perfect example of how change happens. Americans have come together to show solidarity with their neighbors in the global south by bringing to their government’s attention the cost of debt cancellation; 40 cents for every American resident to expand debt cancellation to the remaining 22 developing countries. 

Dropping the Debt Beyond Haiti: My In-District Meeting

Postcard drop offs, Congressional meetings, Call-in days, and Valentines: This week supporters across the country are participating in the Change, Not Chains Week of Action. Jubilee supporter Alix Gordon shares here experience meeting with her Member of Congress. To get more involved, check out our Change Not Chains Campaign. How did you participate in Jubilee's Change Not Chain's Week of Action? Write your comments  below.

Dropping the Debt Beyond Haiti: My In-District Meeting
By Alexandra Gordon, Miami, Florida

After leading on a letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner urging debt cancellation of Haiti's debt, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen agreed to meet with Jubilee supporters in her congressional district in Miami this week. Our group consisted of citizen advocates, the ngo CARE, business leaders, America's Relief and the poverty reduction group, The Women's Fund of Miami.

Jubilee San Diego's Tireless Work Garners Attention

Jubilee San Diego was featured as a beacon of social justice and faith in the Rancho Santa Fe Review this past week.  This article, quoting Jubilee activists Jean O'Leary and Reverand Bill Harman, is a great example of how Jubilee groups around the country can bring global issues into their local communities.  Thanks Jubilee San Diego, and keep up the great work! 

Make sure to read the full article of "Jubilee USA Network’s San Diego chapter working to convince federal government to drop debt owed by world’s poorest countries." 

ONE Brings Haiti Message to Artic Circle

 
This weekend, ONE members delivered over 400,000 petitions to the G7 meetings in Canada, including the petitions signed by Jubilee USA members. Read ONE's blog here:

On Saturday February 6, 2010, Michèle Bertol, a Haitian Canadian led ONE’s delegation to hand over our petition for Haiti debt forgiveness to the G7 Finance Minister’s meeting in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.

A town of only 7,000 people near the Arctic Circle, it was harder to think of a more remote location to hold an international summit. When ONE feared we’d be unable to send the message of our 200,000 signature-strong petition to the G7, we found Michèle.

Read the rest here.

Victory for Haiti Debt Cancellation!

By Hayley Hathaway 02-08-2010
Posted over at Sojourner's blog God's Politics

For those of us who work for social justice, victory can seem elusive.  But then there are times when we mobilize at the right time with the right message and our leaders cannot help but listen and respond.

This weekend was one of those times.

Last week I wrote explaining that Haiti’s $700 million debt to the international financial institutions must be cancelled as an urgent step in recovery and as a matter of justice.

In the wake of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake, people of conscience in the U.S. and around the globe mobilized to call on our leaders to do the right thing for Haiti. On Friday, US Treasury Secretary Geithner responded to that call, announcing: “Today, we are voicing our support for what Haiti needs and deserves – comprehensive multilateral debt relief.”

G7 Tells Haiti: You Need Not Repay

Read the article from Yahoo! News on the G-7's meeting this weekend. Check out the BBC's video reporting on the G-7's news as well.

Haiti Needs A Break on its Debt

IQALUIT, Canada (Reuters) – Group of Seven countries have told earthquake-ravaged Haiti that any debts it owes them needn't be repaid and international lenders should do the same, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Saturday.

"The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven and we'll work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible," Flaherty said at press conference closing a two-day gathering of finance ministers from the G7 industrialized nations.

Over the course of the two-day meeting in the Canadian Arctic town ofIqaluit, which was attended by World Bank President Robert Zoellick and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, members discussed what long-term assistance Haiti will need, Flaherty said. He did not mention any figures.

Haiti says that more than 200,000 people died in the January 12 earthquake, which displaced hundreds of thousands more and wrecked the country's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Aid has come from around the world but so much of Haiti's infrastructure was lost or damaged that officials say it will take a wholesale reconstruction effort to get the country on its feet economically.

Doing the Right Thing: Treasury Supports Haiti Debt Cancellation

This weekend, our friends at the ONE Campaign are trekking to the Arctic Circle to deliver hundreds of thousands of petition signatures from members of ONE, Jubilee USA, Oxfam and Avaaz calling on the G7 leaders to cancel Haiti's debts once and for all.

It comes at just the right time. This morning, the US Treasury announced its support for Haiti's debt cancellation and making sure that new money comes as grants, not loans. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced: "Today, we are voicing our support for what Haiti needs and deserves – comprehensive multilateral debt relief."

Members of Congress Join In, Saying "Drop Haiti's Debt"

This weekend, Finance Ministers from the Group of Seven (the world's largest economies) will meet in Canada and talk about Haiti's debt. These past few weeks, we have seen an incredible response from the global community to cancel Haiti's debt - a critical step towards recovery. 

Today, 94 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Geithner, calling for “the complete cancellation of debts owed by Haiti to multilateral financial institutions…and the provision of assistance to Haiti in the form of grants so that the country does not accumulate additional debts.”

Bolivia Takes Action on Debt Audits

By Kathryn Bailey

Last month Bolivia followed in Ecuador’s footsteps as the second country to commission an audit of their external debt. The Bolivian Parliament approved the commission to investigate the history of the country’s debts – where the loans came from, how, and by whom.

Bolivia’s debt amounted to $ 2.8 billion by September 2009, a $316 million increase from 2008.  Much of this debt originated from periods of dictatorship in which the country borrowed without the people’s consent.