On Tuesday, we organized high-ranking religious and labor leaders for a historic small meeting with Treasury Secretary Yellen. The Secretary Yellen Jubilee USA Network Roundtable focused on global COVID response, climate, Puerto Rico, inequality, development aid, debt relief, emergency reserve funds (Special Drawing Rights or SDRs) and tax, transparency and bankruptcy policies to prevent future crises.
This morning at the G7 finance ministers meeting that Yellen attended, the G7 made their first public announcement in support of one of Jubilee USA's proposals that we've advocated for more than a year: Issuing emergency reserve currency (SDRs) for developing countries as they cope with COVID health and economic crisis.
- Over the last year we organized tens of thousands of petitions and actions to the G20, IMF, White House and Congress. In the Fall, faith communities across the US and partners around the world circulated our petition calling US and world leaders to take action to protect the vulnerable and our planet, address inequality, solve the current crisis and prevent future crises. Please sign the coronavirus relief petition now before we deliver it to world leaders in April.
- Ask your organization, community or religious institution to join 220 groups and sign our letter to the White House, G20 and IMF on coronavirus crisis response. The letter is signed by the largest Unions, religious institutions and human rights, environmental and development groups. More than 150 Jewish, Muslim and Christian congregations and faith groups signed on to support our global coronavirus response policies to lift the vulnerable. Please make sure your group signs on before we deliver the letter in April to the White House, IMF and G20.
Thousands of global newspapers and media outlets covered our meeting with Yellen and leaders from the largest faith traditions. Since the beginning of the pandemic, religious institutions, under the banner of Jubilee USA, called for responses to the COVID crisis that protect the vulnerable and address inequality.
Leaders of the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Presbyterian and United Church of Christ Churches, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Puerto Rico's Catholic Church and the Puerto Rico Evangelical General Bible Society attended the meeting. Jubilee USA Network was also joined by the AFL-CIO and International Trade Union Confederation.
The religious community is concerned that too many developing countries are left out of crisis response. The discussion with Yellen was critical on climate change because many of the most significant climate decisions will be made by Treasury, the IMF and G20.
Climate policies are a growing focus of the G7 and G20. In a recent letter to the G20, Yellen called for cooperation to address climate and support low-income countries to meet climate goals. President Biden’s climate executive order instructs Treasury to promote policies that protect the environment and address climate change.
Treasury Secretary Yellen during the Jubilee USA high-level meeting made her strongest and most expansive statements to date on using all of Treasury's power to combat climate change and protect the vulnerable. She made powerful statements on expanding debt relief to ALL developing countries, getting more aid to developing countries and using the Special Drawing Rights.
We have much more work to urgently do in the coming months. Now we need you to sign the petition and ask your organization or faith community to sign the letter.
Organized by Jubilee USA, 220 religious, labor and human rights groups signed a letter to Biden calling for aid, debt relief and new development processes to confront the pandemic. In February, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network sent a letter to Biden urging short-term solutions to confront the current crisis and long-term solutions to prevent future crises. Jubilee USA Network with Latindadd, our Latin American development partner, organized a letter with more than 200 organizations calling on the G20 to support a SDR issuance.
Gratefully,
Eric
Eric LeCompte
Executive Director
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us