[stop-imf] Jubilee USA - important actions on debt in U.S.

Fri, 01 Jan 1904 03:09:23 -0400

Jubilee USA UPDATE

July 1, 2004 * Special Summer Action Edition

Turn Up the Heat This Summer with Jubilee USA ... Countdown to Freedom
from Debt!

Tell the White House, Treasury & Congress to Commit to Fully Cancel
Poor Country Debt by October 1, 2004!

It is a critical moment for our movement. At the G-8 summit in early
June, world leaders considered for the first time a proposal that
would provide 100% multilateral debt cancellation for impoverished
nations. Though they failed to act then, G-8 leaders directed their
finance ministers (including the US Treasury Secretary) to consider
additional measures in the coming months. Their next meeting will be
on October 1, 2004, just before the Annual Meetings of the IMF and
World Bank in Washington, DC.

So, we have from now until early October to turn up the heat, pull out
all the stops, and put the pressure on our government and other G-7
governments to announce 100% cancellation! Jubilee USA Network=92s
demand of the U.S. government and other G-7 nations is that they
announce support for 100% cancellation of multilateral debt (IMF,
World Bank, regional development banks) for all impoverished nations
(not just those countries in the current HIPC Initiative), without
harmful economic policy conditions attached.

To achieve our demand, Jubilee USA Network has launched a three-month
=93Countdown to Freedom from Debt=94 campaign. Join with us! [Note:
Because of the next 3 months are so critical, you will get 2-3 emails
from us each month, rather than the usual single monthly message].

Below:

1) TAKE ACTION: 5 Easy Ways to Turn Up the Heat and Drop the Debt

2) Calendar of Activities July 1- October 1, 2004: Countdown to
Freedom from Debt

3) Report from the G8 Summit 2004 - News, Photos, and Much More

4) Donate to support the movement for Jubilee Justice!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1) TAKE ACTION: 5 Easy Ways to Turn Up the Heat and Support the
Countdown!

Here are 5 easy and critical ways you can turn up the heat with
Jubilee this summer. More information and talking points will be
available in the coming weeks on our website at
<<http://www.jubileeusa.org/>:

1. Get the Word Out in Your Community!

We are asking Jubilee chapters and supporters across the country to
redouble their efforts over the coming three months to get their
communities to take action on debt. You can:

* Make copies of the Countdown to Freedom from Debt campaign flyer and
bring it and other Jubilee materials to your congregation or to
meetings you attend. Download a flyer at:

<<http://www.jubileeusa.org/take_action/countdown_flyer.pdf>

* Organize a screening of a movie such as Life and Debt
(www.lifeanddebt.org) and ask people to take action afterwards (pass
out flyers, or ask people to sign unhappy birthday cards);

* Set up a Jubilee table or booth at a festival or conference. Display
Jubilee materials and ask people to sign unhappy 60th birthday cards
to the IMF/World Bank - we will deliver a second batch of cards in
October.

* To order materials, unhappy birthday cards, or to get updates/ideas,
email neil@jubileeusa.org or coord@jubileeusa.org or call 202-783-0129
or 202-783-3566. And check www.jubileeusa.org often!

2. Call or Fax the White House & Treasury: We=92re Counting Down to
Freedom from Debt!

Jubilee USA will hold call-in days and =93fax the facts=94 days at key
moments in the countdown! On July 14, visit the Jubilee website and
send a fax with facts on debt to Treasury and the White House (You may
also send your own fax, with photos or other messages you want to
send). On September 1, join us as we call in to Treasury and the White
House to demand 100% cancellation!

3. Get Ready to Call Congress - Ask Your Representative to Co-Sponsor
the JUBILEE Act.

Beginning on July 26, we will be asking you to call your member of
Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the JUBILEE Act, the new
bi-partisan legislation which calls on multilateral institutions to
fully cancel the debts of impoverished nations. Check the Jubilee USA
website in late July for details and talking points.

More on Debt and Elections at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/take_action&page=3Ddebt_elect=
ions.html

5. Demonstrate for Jubilee Justice and Ring In Freedom From Debt!

We need your presence as the clock ticks down to October 1st! Plan to
join us in events outside the US Treasury department on September 21st
and October 1st. Work with your local group or congregation to
organize a solidarity event to ring in Freedom from Debt on October
1st,  the day of the G-7 Finance Ministers in Washington, DC.

Download these 5 easy actions into a printable flyer at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/take_action/countdown_flyer.pdf

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2) Countdown to Freedom from Debt Calendar of Activities: July 1-
October 1, 2004

* Note: you will receive an e-mail with more info. and detailed
instructions on each action just before the dates below, but mark your
calendars now and spread the word! *

July

14 -  80 days to Freedom from Debt. Fax the facts on debt to Treasury
and the White House

26 - 67 days to Freedom from Debt. Call Congress / Ask your member to
sponsor the JUBILEE Act

August

2 - 60 days to Freedom from Debt. Set up a meeting this month in your
district with your member.

September

1 - 30 days  to Freedom from Debt.  Call in day to the White House and
Treasury

21 - 10 days to Freedom from Debt. Join Jubilee USA in Washington, DC
outside US Treasury.

* More events/call or fax in days will be announced for August and
September as needed to turn up the heat!

October

1 - Freedom from Debt Day! G-7 Finance ministers meet. Ring in debt
freedom at picket outside G-7 Finance Ministers meeting in Washington.
Ring in Debt Freedom solidarity actions across the country.

See the calendar and watch for updates at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/take_action&page=3Dcountdown_=
070104.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

3) Report from the G8 Summit 2004 - News, Photos, and Much More!

Jubilee USA Network organized several events and actions around the
Group of Eight Summit from June 8-10.

Religious Leaders to the G8: Drop the Debt!

=09More than 250 religious leaders signed a letter to the G-8 calling
for 100% debt cancellation including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition; Rev. Mark S. Hanson, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America; Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the leader
of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.; Rev. Dr. Robert W. Edgar, General
Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Rabbi Eric Yoffie,
President, Union for Reform Judaism; Bishop Charles E. Blake, of the
Church of God In Christ; and Tony Campolo, an evangelist.

 =09In addition to heads of groups in the U.S., dozens of global leaders
joined the call, such as Neville Gabriel of the Southern African
Catholic Bishops Conference, as well as a Hindu leader, Swami
Shuddhananda Brahmachari, Founding President of Lokenath Divine
Mission.

=09On the first day of the G-8 meetings, Jubilee USA released the letter
at a press conference on June 8, the first day of the G-8 meetings, at
The Other Economic Summit, the main alternative conference to the G-8
Summit.

Several local and regional religious leaders spoke at the letter=92s
release, including Rev. Tim McDonald from Concerned Black Clergy in
Atlanta, and Rev. Zack Lyde from Brunswick. McDonald and Lyde
connected Africa=92s struggle against the burden of debt with their
local struggles against racism. Barbara Kalima, a leader of Jubilee
Zambia, now the director of the African Forum and Network on Debt and
Development in Zimbabwe, also addressed the conference.

See the letter at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/take_action&page=3Dletter0608=
04.html

Your Photos - Delivered!!

=09Over 200 Jubilee grassroots members were also in the room while the
letter was being released-through their photographs, which hung behind
the speakers. Jubilee staff created a backdrop of 10 panels,
two-feet-by-four-feet, above which hung a sign that said: =93People of
Faith and Conscience Call on the G-8 to Drop the Debt.=94

Among those displayed in the photos were people from the United States
and United Kingdom, as well Jubilee activists from Haiti, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.

=09Jean O=92Leary, of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Encinitas, Calif. said
the photo action =93really does send a good message off. We obviously
couldn=92t all be in Georgia for the G-8 Summit, so any avenue we can
take to get the message out about Jubilee is great.=94

See your photos at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/take_action&page=3Dg8pictures=
.html

Jubilee in the Media

=09Jubilee USA Network generated national and international press
attention to the issue of international debt around the G-8 summit.
Together with allies including Africa Action, 50 Years is Enough
Network, TransAfrica Forum, Center for Economic and Policy Research,
and Institute for Policy Studies, Jubilee hosted a press briefing in
Washington, D.C. on June 2 to provide alternative analysis on the G-8
agenda. At the G-8, Jubilee staff were quoted in more than 30 news
stories around the globe in media from Luanda, Angola to Atlanta, Ga,
including the Financial Times, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, all
the major wire services, and many local TV and radio shows.

See press coverage at:

http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/press_room

Building the Movement

=09Jubilee USA also participated in a number of alternative and civil
society events that took place in Brunswick, Ga. Jubilee USA held
several workshops at the Other Economic Summit, a three-day parallel
conference to the G-8 summit. Jubilee board member Adam Taylor spoke
at an Interfaith Service for Global Peace and Justice on June 7 in
Brunswick, and Jubilee staff participated in the Fair World Fair,
marches, rallies, and much more.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

4) Donate to support the movement for Jubilee Justice!

2004 is a critical year for Jubilee! Organizing around the 60th
Birthday of the IMF and World Bank, the G8 meetings in Georgia in
June, and now the Countdown to Freedom from Debt campaign, all in the
context of an election year, has Jubilee buzzing! Unfortunately, all
of this great work and the resources that we provide cost money, and
we are stretching every penny to the limit! Please consider investing
any amount in Jubilee. You can make a secure, tax-deductible gift to
Jubilee USA Network online - simply visit our website and follow the
instructions. Thank you for your commitment to this important work!

Donate online at:
<<http://www.jubileeusa.org/jubilee.cgi?path=3D/donate>.

You may also mail a check to Jubilee USA Network, 222 E. Capitol St.,
NE, Washington, DC, 20003.