[stop-imf] 9/25-27: Global Struggles Against the IMF and the World Bank
Robert Weissman
rob@essential.org
Tue, 24 Sep 2002 11:13:21 -0700
If you are in or near DC, it will definitely be worth the effort to get
to this teach-in, of which Essential Action is a co-sponsor.
The schedule follows below. You can register online at www.50years.org,
or at the door. See you there!
Global Struggles Against the IMF and the World Bank
Teach-In Program
September 25-27, 2002
Washington DC
Sponsored by 50 Years is Enough Network and Jubilee USA Network
Co-sponsored by Center for Economic Justice, Essential Action, & Friends
of the Earth
WEDNESDAY, September 25
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave., N.W.
AFTERNOON FILM
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm PROFIT and Nothing But! by Raoul Peck; 52 minutes
Film Summary: Capitalism has succeeded in convincing us that it is the
only truth. It has even convinced its opponents that their failure
within the normal scheme of things. Raoul Peck contrasts this
heavily-documented illumination of the capitalist system with the
devastating reality of his native land, Haiti. Discussant: Camille
Chalmers, Executive Director of PAPDA (Haitian Platform for Advocacy of
Development Alternatives)
7 pm – 10 pm Opening Plenary Sanctuary
End Corporate Rule: Global Struggles Against the IMF & World Bank
Moderator: Marie Dennis – Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Religious Working Group on the IMF/World Bank
Speakers: Maria Atilano, Mexico – Mexican Action Network Against Free
Trade (RMALC)
Gigi Francisco, Philippines – International Gender and Trade Network
Samuel Nguiffo, Cameroon – Center for Environment & Development
Stella Iwuagwus, Nigeria – Center for the Right to Health
Nora Cortiñas, Argentina – Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
Chie Abad, Philippines/Saipan/U.S. – Global Exchange
THURSDAY, September 26
National Baptist Memorial Church, 16th St. and Columbia Rd., N.W.
9:00 am – 10:00 am Morning Plenary Sanctuary
Moderator: Janneke Bruill, Friends of the Earth International
Speakers: Dennis Brutus, Jubilee South Africa
Demba Moussa Dembele, Forum on African Alternatives, Senegal
Robert Weissman, Essential Action, U.S.
Vanessa Dixon, Service Employees International Union, U.S.
Noeli Pocaterra, National Indigenous Council of Venezuela
Workshops will be held at the following locations:
National Baptist Memorial Church – 16th St. and Columbia Road, N.W.
Casa del Pueblo/United Methodist Church – 1459 Columbia Road, N.W.
All Souls Unitarian Church - 16th and Harvard Streets, N.W.
Festival Center - 1640 Columbia Road, N.W.
10:15 am – 11:30 am Workshop Series #1
GLOBAL STRUGGLES: Perspectives from Africa Chapel
"They should eat GMOs", Colin Powell said of Africans at the recent
World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD aka W$$D). The so-called
New Partnership for African Development" (NEPAD), unveiled at the G8
Summit is an identical twin to the failed IMF and World Bank structural
adjustment programs. Debt has crippled and enslaves the continent. The
HIV/AIDS pandemic, never mind malaria, TB, river blindness, high infant
mortality, hunger, impoverishment, and more, is killing off and
orphaning the hope and future of Africa. And ‘Still We Rise!’ What are
the day-to-day struggles and what are the long-term struggles? Who are
the forces amassed against imperialistic and war-mongering social,
economic, and political forces? Likely participants include activists
from South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon, and
Ghana.
Facilitator: Demba Dembele (Forum for African Alternatives, Senegal)
GLOBAL STRUGGLES: Perspectives from Asia-Pacific Festival Center
Stretching from Fiji to Turkey and from Siberia to Sri Lanka, Asia faces
problems from the consequences of the economic crisis of the late 1990s
to the crisis of armed conflict and its "resolution," Probable
participants include Shalmali Guttal (India/Laos/Thailand); Aderito
Soares (East Timor); Shelly Emalin-Rao (Fiji) and Vineeta Gupta (India).
Facilitator: Beckie Malay (Freedom from Debt Coalition, Philippines)
MOVEMENT BUILDING: Casa del Pueblo
Global-Local Movement-Building: Lessons from Experience
(double session - continues until 1:00 pm)
How can global justice activists work more closely with community-based
organizations? Discuss the obstacles, lessons, and real success stories
of "global-local" movement-building with representatives of Project
South, The Praxis Project, The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and
Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network. The workshop will start at 10:15
and run until 1:00 with a 15-minute break. We’ll focus less on "what are
the analytical connections" than on "how are organizers actually
integrating local and global economic justice work, and what can I
learn?"
Facilitator: Mike Prokosch (United for a Fair Economy, US)
STRATEGY SESSION: Trade Sanctuary
FTAA, CAFTA, GATS, "new issues" in the WTO, the Cancún WTO ministerial
in 2003: what are the priorities and are we balancing them well in our
campaigns?
Facilitator: Carrie Biggs-Adams (Communications Workers of America, US)
11:45 am – 1:00 pm Workshop Series #2
GLOBAL STRUGGLES: Perspectives from Latin America Festival Center
[conducted in Spanish]
The newspaper headlines tell the story -- bailouts (Brazil), defaults
(Argentina), uprisings against privatization (Bolivia, Peru, Paraguay,
Ecuador), corruption scandals (Nicaragua), momentous elections (Brazil),
strikes and intensified civil war (Colombia). What do the individual
countries’ struggles mean, and what to do they mean collectively?
Participants are expected from Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia,
Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua. Facilitator: Onecimo Hidalgo (CIEPAC, Mexico)
MOVEMENT BUILDING: Session from 10:15 continues at Casa del Pueblo
STRATEGY SESSION: HIV-AIDS and Globalization
All Souls
40 million people worldwide are HIV-positive. For the vast majority --
including almost all of the 30 million in Africa -- the diagnosis is a
death sentence. For them, lifesaving treatments widely available in the
United States are priced out of reach. In this case, global economic
inequities are a life and death matter. Debt and proposed new trade
agreements threaten to enhance drug company monopoly power and raise
drug prices. This session will review these issues, and then focus on
how U.S. citizens can organize to make a difference. Participants
include Paul Davis, Health GAP, US; Demba Moussa Dembele, Forum on
African Alternatives (Senegal); Asia Russell, Health GAP, US; and John
Bell from ACT-UP Philadelphia. Facilitator: Robert Weissman, Essential Action
STRATEGY SESSION: Gender and Globalization
Chapel
Apply the gender lens: how do the hottest issues of the day (debt, SAPs,
sweatshops, corporate greed, etc.) affect women, and how do they
respond? Facilitator: Carola Kinasha (Tanzania Gender Networking
Programme, Tanzania)
1:15 pm – 2:30 pm Workshop Series #3
GLOBAL STRUGGLES: Oil and Community Rights: Chapel
Experiences with the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline
and with Caspian Oil
For decades, communities all over the world have been forced to live
with the harsh consequences of oil exploitation. Drilling and pipeline
construction lead to environmental destruction, local conflicts,
increased corruption and human rights violations. However, while its
mission is to alleviate poverty, the World Bank continues to support
such projects. This session highlights two painful examples by featuring
speakers from Cameroon and Georgia. Facilitator: Samuel Nguiffo (CED, Cameroon)
MOVEMENT BUILDING: Critical Issues Facing the Movement: Casa del Pueblo
Should the Global Justice Movement Link with the Peace Movement?
This session will explore the issues relating to the connections between
the anti-corporate globalization movement and the anti-war/ peace and
justice movement. The session will begin with an overview of some of the
links and issues as stake. The bulk of the session will be a facilitated
discussion about the possibilities for greater collaboration between
movements and the potential drawbacks and benefits associated with this.
Come and share your views! Facilitator: Representative from SOA Watch (US)
STRATEGY SESSION: Ecology All Souls
Environmental organizations led the way in internationalizing the
struggle against damaging neo-liberal, pro-business economic policy.
Now that the movement for global justice has established itself in the
public eye, how does the agenda -- or agendas -- of ecology-focused
campaigners fit into the bigger picture? Facilitator: Anne Peterman
(Action for Social and Ecological Justice [ASEJ], US)
STRATEGY SESSION: Taking International Debt Justice to the Next Level
Sanctuary
This workshop will explore the issue of international debt and the
movement for debt cancellation, giving updates and analysis of what has
happened to date and strategizing on how to take this movement to the
next level. The session will focus on building South/North partnerships
in global organizing on this issue. Facilitator: Marie Clarke (Jubilee
USA Network, US), with Demba Dembele (Senegal), Shelly Rao (Fiji) Beckie
Malay (Phillipines), Bill Ferguson (Bay Area Jubilee) and other US
Jubilee activists and organizers.
2:30 pm – 4:30 pm AFL-CIO Worker’s Forum
AFL-CIO Headquarters, 16th & I Streets, N.W.
7:00 pm Interfaith Service and Vigil
Metropolitan AME Church, 15th and H Streets, N.W.
FRIDAY, September 27
New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave., NW
9:00am – 10:15am Morning Plenary Sanctuary
Moderator: Shelly Rao, Fiji – Ecumenical Center for Research,
Education & Advocacy
Speakers: Njoki Njoroge Njehu, U.S./Kenya – 50 Years is Enough Network
Marie Clarke, U.S. – Jubilee USA Network
Michael Guerrero, U.S. – Southwest Organizing Project
Asume Osuoka, Nigeria – Environmental Rights Action
John Bell, U.S. – ACT-UP Philadelphia
10:30 am – 12:00 pm Workshop Series #1
The Plan Puebla Panama: Battle Over the Future of Lincoln Parlor
Southern Mexico and Central America
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Mexican government
have a plan to transform the landscape and the economy all the way from
central Mexico to southern Panama. The "Plan Puebla Panama" proposes the
industrialization of the region, connecting the region with
superhighways and a regional energy grid, and constructing a string of
new "development zones" of sweatshops. These megaprojects would
literally pave the way for corporate colonialism of the region
intensifying the pressure to pass the Central American Free Trade
Agreement and the Free Trade area of the Americas. This workshop will
focus on the two most advanced initiatives of the Plan Puebla Panama:
the highway interconnection and energy interconnection initiatives as
well as be an opportunity to hear from grassroots organizers from Mexico
and El Salvador sharing their direct experiences with this social and
ecologically devastating megaproject. Facilitator: Brendan O’Neill
(ACERCA). Panelists include José Armando Flores Alemán (Center for the
Defense of the Consumer) and Angela de Maria from El Salvador; Onesimo
Hidalgo (CIEPAC) from Chiapas, Mexico; and Wendy Call.
Argentina Lincoln Chapel
In the last 20 years, Argentina has endured a vicious military
dictatorship, a multi-term populist-turned-neo-liberal president who
wants to return to office even now, perhaps the most radical free-market
economic reform plan in the world (including a currency tied directly to
the US dollar), corruption scandals throughout the political system, the
most spectacular national default in decades, and scenes reminiscent in
some ways of the Great Depression: banks closed, cash nearly worthless,
people laid off, looting of stores, and regular strikes and street
demonstrations. Now, with the political system totally discredited,
people’s assemblies, or asambleas, have formed in neighborhoods around
the country, and a new form of government may be evolving. Is Argentina
today the first glimpse of a post-IMF society? Panelists include: Nora
Cortiñas (Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo) and Mario Cafiero, Member of the
Argentinian Congress. Facilitator: Analia Penchaszadeh (Jobs with
Justice, US)
World Bank: Hazardous to Your Health Lincoln Parlor
World Bank-imposed user fees for health care services have placed
medical outside the reach of the poor in countries across the South,
while decades of structural adjustment mandated cuts in health budgets
have decimated the public health infrastructure in Africa, Latin
America, and Asia. Meanwhile, World Bank Group funding and promotion of
incinerators is endangering public health. The hazardous chemicals
(including dioxins and PCBs) released by incinerators not only pollute
and endanger nearby communities, but can be transmitted long distances
and already threaten public health globally. Learn about the issues and
alternatives that protect public health. Panelists: Vineeta Gupta
(Insaaf Inter-national, India); Monica Wilson (Global Anti-Incinerator
Alliance, US); Joanne Carter (Results, US)
Joining Hands to Break the Chains of Debt Radcliff Room
"Must we starve our children to pay our debts?" asked Julius Nyerere,
former President of Tanzania. International debt takes the lives of tens
of thousands daily, yet the international financial institutions and
wealthy creditors still demand repayment and still promote failed debt
relief schemes. Come hear voices from the Global South describe the
Jubilee movement to turn around the debt crisis and learn how to get
involved in the exciting work happening in the U.S. Panelists: Demba
Dembele (Forum on African Alternatives, Senegal) Shelly Rao (Ecumenical
Center for Research, Education and Advocacy, Fiji) Beckie Malay (Freedom
from Debt Campaign, Phillipines) Mara Vanderslice (Jubilee USA Network,
U.S.) Facilitator: Nunu Kidane (Jubilee USA Network Chair, Eritrea/U.S.)
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 Afternoon Plenary Sanctuary
Moderator: Kevin Danaher, U.S. – Global Exchange
Speakers: Dennis Brutus, South Africa – Jubilee South Africa
Carola Kinasha, Tanzania – Tanzania Gender Networking Program
Ricardo Navarro, El Salvador –Friends of the Earth International
Bongani Lubisi, South Africa - Anti-Privatisation Forum
2:15-3:30 Workshop Series #2
ECA’s: The Dirtiest Secret of Globalization Room 520
They are now the world's biggest class of financial institutions,
collectively even bigger than the World Bank Group. Yet, most of them
have no social and environmental standards. They are called export
credit agencies (ECA’s). ECA’s provided the corporate welfare that
enabled Enron to expand around the globe. Come learn about the "bottom
feeders" of globalization and how to fight back. Panelists: Beckie Malay
(Freedom from Debt Coalition, Phillipines) Doug Norlen (Pacific
Environment, U.S.) Aaron Goldzimer (Environmental Defense, U.S.)
Facilitator: Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth- US
Surviving Against the Odds: Gender’s Challenges to Development
Lincoln Chapel
Girls out of school; trafficked women; African farmers; Latin American
"busboys"; G-8 leaders and nary a woman; high illiteracy; grandmothers
raising AIDS orphans; lip service and rhetoric to gender concerns;
all-male policy- and decision-making. Women’s productive and
reproductive capacity is a necessary and important piece of the dominant
economic order. Women are the "Rescue 911" system. Come learn and
share strategies of how women survive against great odds. Facilitator:
Susan Thompson (Religious Working Group in the IMF and World Bank /
Columban Justice & Peace Office, US)
Ecology and Globalization: The Ecological Devastation Radcliff Room
Imposed by World Bank/IMF Policies
Issues covered include the most serious ecological crises faced by
people around the world. These issues include, global warming and
fossil fuels; deforestation; large dams; biotechnology and biopiracy;
ecological impacts of war; and water privatization. Panelists include
Oscar Olivera (La Coordinadora, Bolivia); Jason Tockman (American Lands
Alliance, US), Monti Aguirre (International Rivers Network, US); Brian
Tokar (Institute for Social Ecology, US), and others to be announced.
Facilitator: Anne Petermann (Action for Social & Ecological Justice /
ACERCA, US)
U.S. Trade Strategy: Pre-Emption & End-Runs in the Americas
Sanctuary
Regional trade and investment agreements like Plan Puebla Panama (PPP),
the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of
the Americas (FTAA), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
work together to pre-empt growing resistance to neo-liberalism. While
the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been easier to thwart (somewhat),
the U.S. Trade Representative’s office has found more success with
regional trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties containing
"WTO-plus" provisions that win concessions the U.S. would be unlikely to
get at the WTO. Panelists: Maria Atilano (RMALC, Mexico) on the FTAA
and PPP; Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians) on regional trade and
investment agreements; Huberto Juarez (Univ. of Puebla, Mexico) on
NAFTA, CAFTA, PPP, and the FTAA; and Karen Hansen-Kuhn (Alliance for
Responsible Trade, U.S.) on the movements to stop the FTAA in the U.S.
and internationally. Facilitator: Severina Rivera (Campaign for Labor
Rights, U.S.)
Behind the Green Facade: The World Bank’s Environmental Record
Room 511
The World Bank markets itself as an institution, that works for the
eradication of poverty and environmental sustainability -- as last
witnessed during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg just weeks ago. This workshop will expose the Bank's true
environmental record since the Rio Earth Summit 1992 and give insights
into its public relations machine. Panelists: Liane Schalatek (Heinrich
Böll Foundation, Germany/US) on the WSSD; Alex Wilks (Bretton Woods
Project, UK) on the "Knowledge Bank," Carol Welch (Friends of the Earth
-US) on the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and Pamela
Foster (Halifax Initiative, Canada) on the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
SOA: the Military Muscle to Enforce IMF/World Bank Policies Lincoln Parlor
The workshop will make the case that US militarism is protecting – at
any cost – US corporate interests in Latin America. The workshop will
include the screening of the 20 min video "SOA: Guns and Greed", a
documentary that shows how combat-ready SOA graduates use their guns to
protect the greed of large corporations and world financial
institutions. Community organizers, labor activists, and educators who
are engaged in the struggle against the policies of the new IMF/World
Bank "conquistadors" are consistently targeted by US-trained armed
forces. The global enforcement arm of the IMF and the World Bank is the
Pentagon which arms and trains despotic militaries around the world. The
SOA has served as the training ground for the Latin American
"enforcers." Economic oppression and military repression are flip sides
of the globalization coin. The economic rape of the poor that
accompanies globalization could not stand without the repressive
military apparatus that brutalizes those who rise up to resist.
Panelists include staff of School of the Americas Watch
3:45 – 5:00 Workshop Series # 3
How to Organize A World Bank Bonds Boycott Radcliff Room
in Your Town, Union, or Church
The World Bank Bonds Boycott is a growing campaign which is making the
destructive policies and projects of the World Bank a local issue. Based
on the fact that the World Bank raises most of its money by selling
bonds to investors, including our towns, unions, churches, and
universities, the boycott is organizing these institutions to pass
resolutions boycotting World Bank bonds. Already, more than 60 entities,
including 7 U.S. cities, have adopted the boycott, and campaigns are
underway in another dozen U.S. cities, in dozens of unions and churches,
and on 5 continents. Come learn about this exciting campaign from
people who have organized successful boycott campaigns in their
communities and get the tools you need to organize a World Bank Bonds
Boycott when you return home. Facilitator: Neil Watkins (Center for
Economic Justice, US) Panalists: Dennis Brutus (Jubilee South Africa)
Frances Bartelt (Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign) Katrina Abarcar (Center
for Economic Justice, US)
Tax the Bank! Lincoln Parlor
As "international treaty organizations," the World Bank and the IMF are
exempt from property and sales tax, and its non-US employees are exempt
from income tax. With ten thousand employees and seven large buildings
in Washington, DC, their status deprives the city -- already afflicted
with a small tax base -- of substantial revenues. The World Bank makes
about $2 billion per year, and the IMF sits on $30 billion in gold
reserves. The Tax-the-Bank campaign is designed to mobilize people in
Washington DC to pressure the institutions to voluntarily make "payments
in lieu of taxes" -- as tax-exempt organizations like the Port Authority
of New York & New Jersey do -- to the city. Facilitator: Soren Ambrose
(50 Years Is Enough Network / New Voices on Globalization, US)
Just Say No: IMF Bailouts Room 511
Recent IMF interventions in South America have revived the controversy
that swirled around the institutions’ harsh conditions on "bailouts"
during the East Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, as well as its
history of supporting Argentina’s ultra-neo-liberal programs. The
attempted Brazilian bailout in August is the largest single commitment
of IMF funds in its history ($30 billion), appears not to have
substantially calmed that country’s markets, and has made the IMF and
its bailout the biggest issue in the Brazilian presidential elections in
October. Should the IMF just get out of the bailout game? Or do
countries in situations like Argentina’s require some kind of bailout
that cannot come from anywhere else? Facilitator: Mark Weisbrot (Center
for Economic & Policy Research, US)
The Future of Basic Services – Water, Health and Education
Sanctuary
This interactive workshop will describe the privatization juggernaut;
the nature of the political and commercial forces driving policies; the
role of the U.S. government in promoting "private-public partnerships;"
and way that the IMF and World Bank (together with the regional banks)
aim to facilitate the application of WTO General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS) rules in these sectors. We will also explore actual and
potential impacts of privatization; the timeline for influencing
decisions of national governments and global institutions in various
arenas; and opportunities for education and coalition-building that will
enable researchers and campaigners to help citizens make their voices
heard in ways that will ensure a more sustainable future. Facilitator:
Sameer Dossani (Citizens Network on Essential Services, US)
Oil and Gas versus Renewables Room 520
In the struggle for global justice, it is crucial that we move away from
the use of fossil fuels. Oil and gas exploitation cause grave local
environmental and social problems, and contribute to dangerous climate
change. The World Bank is a major financier of fossil fuel projects.
However, a shift towards renewable energy could be an important
generator of social change. It could lead to the decentralization of
power, job creation and a healthy environment. This workshop explores
the possibilities and challenges! Facilitator: Hildebrando Velez
(Colombia), an expert on energy sovereignty
Adjustment and the IFIs: What Hope for Change? Peter Marshall Room
The Structural Adjustment Participatory Review International Network
(SAPRIN) has been active on four continents mobilizing civil society and
challenging the imposition of structural adjustment policies by the IMF
and the World Bank. The three presenters will provide first-hand
accounts of their engagement of these international financial
institutions at the global and national levels. They will explain the
difficulties encountered in getting these institutions to respond to the
need to open the policymaking process to new economic policy options.
Presenters: Steve Hellinger (The Development GAP/SAPRIN Global
Coordinator, US); Mario Cafiero (Member of the Argentinian Congress)
Warren Nyamugasira (Uganda National NGO Forum)
Globalization Comes Home to Roost Lincoln Chapel
The impact of corporate globalization is felt everyday in the United
States, and by no group so acutely as recent immigrants. Hear their
stories of disempowerment and resistance to the global economy in our
"own backyard." Panelists include Francisca Cortez (Coalition of
Immokalee Workers -immigrant farm workers in Florida); a representative
of Jobs with Justice (US) and a member of HERE Local 27. Facilitator:
Daisy Pitkin (Campaign for Labor Rights, US)
5:15- 6:30 Workshop Series # 4
Sierra Student Coalition: Sanctuary
How to Win a World Bank Bonds Boycott on your College Campus
The Sierra Student Coalition is sponsoring a workshop on how to organize
a World Bank Bonds boycott campaign on your college campus. You will
learn about how World Bank projects in the oil, gas, and mining sectors
harm the envioronment. You will also learn skills in student coalition
building, how to effectively host teach-ins or other events, how to work
with your administration, and how to win your Bonds Boycott campaign.
All students (high school, college, graduate) are encouraged to attend.
Panelists: Asume Osuoka (Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria); Nick
Salter and Nathan Wyeth, (Sierra Student Coalition, US); and Katrina
Abarcar or Charity Ryerson (World Bank Bonds Boycott Campaign US)
Stopping the Water Privatizers at Home and Abroad
Radcliff Room
Join a discussion about World Bank, IMF, WTO and domestic programs that
are turning public water systems into a billion dollar business for
multinational corporations. Learn how to get involved in the amazing
campaigns in Bolivia, Ghana, Nicaragua, in the U.S. and around the world
to stem the privatization tide and return water to the people and the
planet. Panelists: Oscar Olivera (La Coordinadora, Cochabamba, Bolivia)
Rudolf Amenga-Etego (Ghana National Coalition Against Privatisation of
Water); Clemente Martinez (Centro Humboldt, Nicaragua); Wenonah Hauter
(Critical Mass Energy and Environment Project of Public Citizen, US);
Antonia Juhasz, (International Forum on Globalization, US) Facilitator:
Sara Grusky (International Water Working Group of Public Citizen,
Washington, DC.)
Don’t Owe, Won’t Pay: Illegitimate and Odious Debt Sanctuary
The Global South debt campaigns -- and many groups in the North --
label the debts of these countries illegitimate because they come after
centuries of ecological exploitation (extracting resources with no or
little compensation), slavery, political oppression, and rigged
international trade rules. There are also many who believe the debts
should be declared odious under international law -- void because the
loans were made to dictators and other undemocratic regimes, and most
often did not benefit the country’s people, who are now required to pay
them back. The most dramatic example of this is South Africa, where the
current government has paid, and continues to pay, debts taken out by
the old apartheid government to buy weapons and otherwise oppress the
majority population. Get on board for debt cancellation, repudiation,
and reparations! Panelists include Patricia Adams (author, Odious
Debt, Canada); Shelly Rao (Ecumenical Center for Research, Education and
Advocacy, Fiji); Beckie Malay (Freedom from Debt Campaign, Phillipines)
Facilitator: Marie Clarke (Jubilee USA Network)
Poverty Reduction or Poverty Reinforcement? Room 511
The Shameless Rhetoric and Reality of IMF/World Bank Policy Conditions
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers are the linchpin in the new (since
late 1999) process the IMF and the World Bank have set up to perpetuate
structural adjustment programs. Now, instead of a government and the
institution "negotiating" a new program in secret, the process is opened
up to civil society organizations. In several countries this new method
has now been tested, and the institutions have been surprised to learn
that people’s organizations want input on macroeconomic conditions, not
just the question of how to gauge poverty and budget allocation
proportions. The rhetoric of participation does not mean the
instiutions are open to policies which challenge the orthodoxy of
structural adjustment. The PRSPs threaten to co-opt NGOs into appearing
to certify a very flawed process and document. This workshop will
describe the nuts and bolts of the PRSP process, their link to previous
programs, the ways in which multiple donors can "tag-team" impoverished
governments to force certain policies into place, and how the IMF and
World Bank could end up enshrining the PRSP as a prerequisite for any
assistance whatsoever. Panelists: Shalmali Guttal (Focus on the Global
South, Thailand), Odour Ong’wen (EcoNews Africa, Kenya), Warren
Nyamugasira (Uganda National NGO Forum), and Demba Dembele (Forum on
African Alternatives, Senegal) Facilitator: Rick Rowden (RESULTS
Education Fund, US)
Beyond "Teamsters and Turtles" and Toward Solidarity:
Room 520
Making the Links Between Corporate Globalization's
Assault on Workers and the Earth
A panel discussing the connections made between environmental and labor
movements in both popular social movements in the Global South and the
global justice movement in North America because of the IMF and World
Bank, "free" trade, and corporate globalization's assault on the earth
and workers. We will look for models and inspiration from struggles
blending -- instead of separating -- resistance to environmental
degradation and workers' struggles. In addition, the panelists will
grapple with the challenges inherent in such cutting edge work,
including class, war, and race that many times fracture this essential
movement building. Co-Facilitators: Daisy Pitkin, Campaign for Labor
Rights and Jason Ford, Action for Social and Ecological Justice (ASEJ).
Panelists: Jesús Albeiro Martínez Castrillón (SINTRASEMA public sector
workers union, Colombia); Jennifer Krill (Rainforest Action Network)
Shelly Emalin-Rao (ECREA, Fiji)
HIV/AIDS: Promoting Access to Essential Medicines Peter
Marshall Room
The international campaign to challenge monopolistic price-gouging of
HIV/AIDS and other essential medications has won significant victories
in the halls of power in the United States and at the World Trade
Organization and other international trade regimes. These victories and
the threat of generic competition have succeeded in lowering prices in
African and other Global South countries -- not sufficiently, but
significantly. Yet very few people with HIV/AIDS in these nations are
receiving treatment. Cutting-edge campaigns to have drug treatments
provided are focusing on employers -- particularly Coke – demanding that
they provide treatment to their employees. Panelists: Asia Russell and
Sharonann Lynch (both with Health GAP, USA)
Legislative Approaches to Changing IMF and World Bank Policies
Lincoln Parlor
The IMF and World Bank are more responsive to pressure from rich
countries than the poor countries they are supposed to help. Among a key
means by which U.S. citizens can exert power over the institutions is
through Congress. This workshop will discuss Congressional strategies to
change IMF and Bank policy -- reviewing successes and failures.
Panelists: Joanne Carter (RESULTS, US); Warren Gunnels (office of
Representative Bernie Sanders, US); Shannon Lawrence (Environmental
Defense, US)
7:30 p.m. Closing Plenary Sanctuary
Performance by La Troupe Makandal
Moderators: Marie Clarke, U.S. – Jubilee USA Network
Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Kenya/U.S. – 50 Years is Enough Network
Speakers: Ralph Nader, U.S. – consumer advocate
Maude Barlow, Canada – Council of Canadians
Mohau Pheko, South Africa – Gender & Trade Network in Africa
Naomi Klein, Canada – No Logo
Oscar Olivera, Bolivia – La Coordinadora (Cochabamba)
Aderito Soares, East Timor – Sahe Institute for Liberation