[stop-imf] sign-on letter on debt

[Robert Weissman]

he following comes from the Jubilee USA Network and the Religious
Working Group on the World Bank & IMF.  Please sign on via the website
listed. The Group of 7 wealthiest nations will be meeting again in early
June in France. We cannot miss this opportunity to call on them to
cancel the debts of the most impoverished nations. The IMF and World
Bank skirted their responsibility this Spring to take any more action on
debt, and we cannot let the world believe that the Jubilee movement has
gone silent, and dropped the call for debt cancellation. Please sign on
to the letter below and pass it on.

Jubilee USA Network is a member of the Religious Working Group on the
World Bank and IMF. The Religious Working Group and Jubilee are calling
for  signatures of religious leaders or religious institutions, or any
who are willing to be associated with the Religious Working Group on a
letter which will be sent to the finance ministers of the G7
industrialized nations prior to their meeting in France in early June.
The letter is very similar to one drafted by the Religious Debt
Coalition in Rome, which is encouraging its participating organizations
to send a personal letter like this to their own finance minister. We
use it with their permission.

If you would like to sign the following letter, please add your name and
affiliation (if any) or the name of your institution by listing it at
http://www.maryknollogc.org/guestbook/addguest.html. If you cannot
access the internet, you can send your signatures to Marie Dennis
at mdennis@maryknoll.org, but please mark the subject very clearly as
"G7 Letter Signature." Thank you! The deadline is Friday May 16th at
5:00 pm EDT.

Thank you, Marie Clarke, National Coordinator, Jubilee USA Network

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Letter to G7 Finance Ministers:

The Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF represents
thousands of members of religious organizations and institutions,
working in almost every country of the world, from the richest to the
poorest. We write to express our dismay at the crippling and
illegitimate debt of the world's most impoverished nations.

In the name of justice, the debt of the world's poorest countries should
be cancelled. We will not give up this cause until it happens!

You heard from us in Cologne!

You heard from us in Okinawa!

You heard from us in Genoa!

You heard from us again in Canada!

And now, as you approach your meeting in Evian, France you hear from us
again!

Our message is the same: DROP the DEBT!

We are aware that where debt relief has occurred it has made a
significant difference. The international campaigns for debt
cancellation have had an impact. They have been able to leverage about
$35 billion in debt reduction. This means:

=B7 In Uganda school enrollment has tripled

=B7 In Mozambique about half a million children have been vaccinated
against deadly and preventable diseases

=B7 In Honduras, children have 3 extra years of free primary education

That is good news! But the bad news is:

=B7 Chad is still paying as much in debt service as it is spending on
health. 80% of the population is estimated to be living below the
international poverty line of $1.per day.

=B7 Ghana spends about 4 times on debt service than on health care

=B7 At the Cologne G7 Summit in 1999, $110 billion was promised in debt
cancellation, 4 years later only about 35% has been cancelled.

Debt cancellation will not end poverty in our world but we believe that
it is a necessary platform from which poor countries will be able to
develop their own economic, education and health care systems.

We also believe that it will help in achieving the United Nations
Millennium Goals.

Therefore: We urge you to DROP THE DEBT!