The Jubilee Blog

Happy Thanksgiving from Jubilee!

On Thanksgiving, Jubilee USA is Grateful for You

Friends-

As Co-Chairs of Jubilee USA Network, we want to thank-you for your support and partnership. On behalf of everyone at Jubilee, we are grateful that you join us to change the policies that trap people in poverty.

The past few months was an amazing time of achievement and growth for Jubilee USA:

-  Thanks to you, we moved the White House to call for $100 million in debt relief for Ebola-stricken West Africa. Read the blow by blow of how we did it in the global wire service, Inter Press Service. Our Ebola relief efforts were also featured in Reuters and the International Business Times. 

-  Your support helped us win a major victory at the United Nations, where 124 countries voted in favor of creating a global bankruptcy process for nations. That process can bring stability to the global financial system, stem financial crisis and protect the poorest people in the world. We've fought for this since we began our campaign.

Ebola Debt Relief! Thank Jack Lew Today

Below is an email we sent our supporters asking them to thank the White House and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for their call for debt relief for Ebola-stricken West Africa. Please join us in thanking Secretary Lew and add your voice to those calling for debt relief and economic policies that protect vulnerable communities.

---

Dear Friends-

$100 million in debt relief for the poorest countries affected by Ebola!

This Thanksgiving, that's what your support is winning for some of the world's poorest countries: a needed investment in the health infrastructure of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

In recent months Jubilee USA continually met with the White House urging cancellation of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia's debts. In October, more than 130 Jubilee USA synagogues, churches and mosques acted and prayed for the White House to support this campaign. We showed the White House that we could use a special trust fund at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to move quick debt relief for the Ebola countries.

African Mayors Call for Debt Cancellation for Ebola-Stricken West Africa

 

G20 Moves Forward on Ebola Debt Relief Plan

 

African mayors gathered in Accra, Ghana to call on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to cancel debts owed by the countries impacted by the Ebola epidemic. The Global Alliance of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent made the call in a communique named "The Accra Accord on Ebola." This call follows efforts by Jubilee USA, a religious debt relief group, to move forward a debt relief plan for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The plan was endorsed by the US government who brought the plan to the G20 summit. 100 million dollars in debt relief could become available from a special IMF trust fund set aside for countries impacted by natural disasters.

Treasury Secretary Lew Brings Jubilee USA Request for Debt Relief for Ebola-Stricken Countries to G20

US Seeks to Move IMF to Cancel $100 Million in Debt for Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea

The US government is asking the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cancel $100 million of debt of the three developing countries most impacted by the Ebola epidemic. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is proposing a plan at the G20 meetings.Jubilee USA urged the White House at regular meetings during the Ebola outbreak to take this action. The Treasury Department announcement calls for relief for Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia to come from a special IMF trust fund set aside for countries impacted by natural disasters. The fund was established in 2010 when Jubilee USA called for the cancellation of Haiti's debt after its devastating earthquake. The three countries owe the IMF approximately $370 million. Guinea, where the outbreak began, spends more money annually on debt than on public health. 

"This is absolutely fantastic news," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious debt relief organization, Jubilee USA. "We are so grateful that Secretary Lew and the Administration are bringing this plan for debt relief for the Ebola-stricken countries."

Addressing Inequality

by Eric LeCompte

The following article originally appeared in Catholic Alliance for the Common Good's Common Good Forum on October 29, 2014. 

For this week's Common Good Forum, we are featuring Eric LeCompte, the executive director of Jubilee USA Network. Jubilee USA began when Pope John Paul ll and other religious leaders called for a debt Jubilee for the world's poorest countries. Since its founding, Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people.

The buzzword fluttering around the globe is inequality. The G20 debates how to solve it, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) defines it and Pope Francis places the term squarely in Catholic Teaching. What needs to happen to change the inequality numbers?

The numbers on inequality: 1 out of 5 human beings live in extreme poverty. The 85 richest individuals in the world hold more wealth than half of the entire world's population or more wealth than 3.5 billion people.

TOGETHER WE CHANGED THE STORY!

Friends -

Because you support Jubilee USA, we changed how the global media talks about vulture funds. We changed a mainstream media story focused on "investor rights" to a story about PREDATORY hedge fund behavior - and Jubilee's views are in the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Associated Press, Bloomberg, Time Magazine, Financial Times, Reuters, Washington Post and local papers across every state.

On a lean budget, the Jubilee team monitors the global media, responds and fights 24/7 to ensure that the vulnerable are at the heart of the story. Your gift to Jubilee USA today makes it possible for us to move the global media to report how debt, tax and trade policies impact the poor. When you donate today your contribution to support our work is matched by an anonymous donor up to 15K!