Dear Friend,

Today, #GivingTuesday, falls during multiple global crises that can often feel like too much to comprehend. Because of you, Jubilee USA won hundreds of billions of aid to confront the pandemic and debt, food, disaster and climate crises. World leaders are considering our proposals to prevent future crises. These solutions are needed to help every day households in the US, Puerto Rico and the entire world.

Please donate to Jubilee USA Network to support our mission and efforts to address global crises and the structures that create poverty, inequality and harm to our planet. Your tax-deductible gift is matched and doubled now.

Over the past year, your generosity meant:

• The New York Taxpayer and International Debt Crises Protection Act, with bipartisan support, was the first global debt relief legislation to move out of committee in the New York State legislature in 20 years
  
  
• From the US and other wealthy countries, we won pledges of $87 billion in Special Drawing Rights to support developing countries
  
  
• The G20 approved proposals that increase development bank loans, aid and grants by $15 billion a year, and we are moving them to provide hundreds of billions more
  
  
• As 60% of Puerto Rico's children live in poverty, we convened the leaders of the largest Puerto Rico and US religious groups to sign a letter to Congress calling for Puerto Rico to receive the same level of nutritional assistance (food stamps) that US States receive
  
  
• We organized and supported a New York, national and global coalition of over 60 groups, comprising the largest unions, major religious institutions, development groups, notable economists, finance ministers, powerful environmental organizations, our global partners and high-level United Nations officials
  
  
• In partnership with Africa's interfaith religious leaders and biggest religious institutions, we are advocating for debt relief, new economic policies and effective use of aid resources for pandemic response, the climate crisis and recovery in Africa
  
  
• We convened some of the world's most notable experts for a process to improve debt relief assessments and align them with labor, human development and climate goals
  
  
• The US and other wealthy countries committed to a minimum of $100 billion in climate finance after 2025, and a new fund to compensate countries most vulnerable to climate change
  
  
• We addressed world leaders at some of the largest global decision-making forums at the United Nations, World Bank and International Monetary Fund
  
  
• Hundreds of thousands of newspapers and television and radio shows covered our Jubilee USA efforts

Please join me and make a tax-deductible gift this #GivingTuesday, so Jubilee USA can continue to create and advocate for solutions that save lives, our planet, and prevent future crisis. Donations are doubled now.

In solidarity,

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director

Twitter: @Eric_LeCompte
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

Friend,

Aldo Caliari
Senor Director of Policy and Campaigns
Jubilee USA Network
https://jubileeusa.nationbuilder.com/support-us

JUBILEE IN THE NEWS 

US bishops endorse Puerto Rico’s appeal for equal food assistance Crux (November 14th)

Will World Bank, IMF rescue developing economies from growing debt conundrum? News Agency of Nigeria (October 25th) 

The New York Legislature Could Help Free the Global South from Crushing Debt Jacobin (October 14th)

Change approach to Africa, Catholic bishops urge IMF, World Bank The Herald (October 13th)

G20 communique omits mention of Middle East conflict Reuters, the New York Times, US News (October 13th)

World's Higher-for-Longer Rate Era Stokes Worry Bloomberg (October 13th)

You have to change your approach to Africa, Catholic bishops urge IMF, World Bank news24 (October 12th)

What’s on the menu in Marrakech Devex (October 12th)

World Bank urges cooling of Israel-Gaza conflict as annual meetings start Reuters (October 9th)

IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings Global Finance (October 9th)

Multi-Faith Network leaders call for transparency in IMF bailout funds utilisation Ghana Business News (September 29th) 

The UN can talk SDGs all it wants, without money it means little for Africa, experts warn news24 (September 21st)

Africa in the G20: The good, the bad, and the changing climate news24 (September 12th)

Bishops join African faith leaders in call for debt relief The Tablet (August 28th)

Catholic bishops, faith leaders appeal for debt relief to help African countries National Catholic Reporter (August 24th)

African Faith Leaders Recommended "large investments" to Address Continent's Economic Crisis Association for Catholic Information in Africa (August 9th)

African Faith Leaders discuss strategies to navigate contemporary crises Vatican News (August 8th)

Godongwana may need to revise South Africa’s 2023 growth forecast IOL (July 19th)

Devex Invested: Setbacks for an ambitious plan to ease global debt woes Devex (June 13th)

Ambitious N.Y. bill takes aim at global debt woes Axios (June 12th)

How New York State Could Unlock Billions for Climate Finance The New Republic (June 9th)

Wall Street Scores Victory as NY Lawmakers Stall Vote on EM Debt Bills Bloomberg (June 8th)

New York bill would rewrite rules for sovereign debt restructurings Nikkei Asia (June 7th)

Investors brace for new law on sovereign debt workouts Financial Times (June 5th)

New York Bills That Cap Key EM Debt Payouts Rile Pimco, Fidelity Bloomberg (May 18th)

Jubilee USA Pushes NY To Enact International Debt Relief Law The Sanctuary of Independent Media (May 5th)

How the World Bank, IMF, and G20 Are Tackling Inequality, Climate Rising Up With Sonali (April 1st)

Challenged by Poor Access to External Financing, Aid, Least Developed Countries Must Mobilize Domestic Resources, Promote Investment, Speakers Stress at Doha Roundtable United Nations (March 8th)

US names pick for World Bank Arkansas Online (February 24th)

US Nominates Ajay Banga as World Bank Chief Globe Echo (February 23th)

US nominates Ajay Banga for World Bank president Associated Press, Washington Post, ABC (February 23th)

New York state bill seen aiding poor country debt relief Reuters, New York Times, Yahoo (February 17th)

China, U.S. to participate in first meeting of new debt roundtable on Feb. 17 Reuters (February 13th)

Yellen: World Bank Should Incorporate Climate, Pandemic in Fight to End Poverty West Orlando News (February 11th)

No real solutions coming from World Economic Forum in Davos National Catholic Reporter (January 23th)

Friend,

Jubilee USA endorsed US and Puerto Rico religious leaders letter to Congress on nutrition and child poverty aid for Puerto Rico is highlighted in the Crux. Eric LeCompte is also quoted on Puerto Rico's struggles with natural disaster recovery and economic crises. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

US bishops endorse Puerto Rico’s appeal for equal food assistance

By John Lavenburg

The letter was endorsed by Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. It was also endorsed by Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of faith-based development and debt relief advocacy organizations.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau data reflecting statistics from 2021 show that the median household income in Puerto Rico was just under $22,000, and about 42 percent of the island’s 3.2 million citizens live in poverty – well higher than the national average of 12.6 percent.

Compared to SNAP, the food assistance program in Puerto Rico is called the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP). Unlike funding for SNAP, which is fluid based on need, NAP must operate within a fixed budget each fiscal year, and therefore often falls short of providing the proper level of nutritional assistance when disaster strikes.

Read more here.

Petition to G20 Finance Ministers signed by 62 African Religious Leaders from 16 countries. Read the letter here.

Puerto Rico should receive the same nutrition assistance benefits, popularly known as food stamps, as US states receive, noted 28 major religious leaders from Puerto Rico and the United States. In a letter to Congress, the leaders of the largest US and Puerto Rico Christian faiths asked that Puerto Rico be included in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Unlike states, the island is under a block capped grant system, periodically renewed, that cannot expand based on need like US states.

“In spite of the recent debt reduction deal, due to the fiscal conditions accompanying it and amidst rising inflation, more families and children depend on food aid,” the religious leaders said in the letter.

The leaders of Puerto Rico churches signing the letter represent the Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Christian (Disciples) and Evangelical, Presbyterian, Baptist Churches and the Puerto Rico Council of Churches. The Caribbean Institute of Ecumenical Action and Formation, Catholic Charities (Caritas) and the General Bible Society also signed. At the national level, religious leadership of the US Catholic Conference of Bishops, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, the National Council of Churches, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and Jubilee USA Network endorsed the letter.

“Poverty and joblessness remain rampant in Puerto Rico as the island struggles with economic crises and the recovery from natural disasters,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network which organized and endorsed the letter. “The funds for food aid are insufficient.”

This year, Congress will pass a Farm Bill which can set in motion a transition for Puerto Rico, as a US territory, to join the US states’ nutrition benefits program.  

Read the US and Puerto Rico Religious Leaders' Letter to Congress here.

Read the letter as a PDF here. 

For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’  (Matthew 25:35-40) 

Dear Members of Congress,

As religious leaders we write to request action that enables Puerto Rico, our home, to promptly, fully and permanently support nutrition assistance benefits for all its people in need. Please include Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Since 2015, we have been calling for measures on Puerto Rico’s debt and economic crisis, later aggravated by natural disasters, earthquakes and the COVID pandemic. We worked with Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress and the White House calling for debt relief and a comprehensive called strategy for economic and social recovery encompassing jobs, disaster aid, infrastructure, tax and social programs.

In spite of the recent debt reduction deal, due to the fiscal conditions accompanying it and amidst rising inflation, more families and children depend on food aid. Because Puerto Rico is not part of SNAP and receives a capped nutrition block grant, every year food assistance falls short of needs in the island, where nearly 60% of children live in poverty. The shortfall becomes more pronounced in times where disasters or other emergencies hit.

Our Jubilee religious traditions call for us to take and seek action that realizes a world where there is enough for everybody.

It is in this spirit that we request your legislative actions this year ensure Puerto Rico transitions as soon as possible into the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that all states benefit from.

We continue to hold you and your public service in our prayers.

Sincerely,

Monsignor Roberto O. González Nieves OFM
Metropolitan Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan in Puerto Rico

Monsignor Rubén González Medina CMF
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ponce in Puerto Rico

Monsignor Eusebio Ramos Morales
Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas in Puerto Rico

Reverend Idalia Negrón Caamaño
Bishop of the Caribbean Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Reverend Lizzette Gabriel Montalvo
Bishop of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico

Reverend Hilda Robles Florán
General Pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Puerto Rico

Reverend Zodet Zambrana
Moderator Boriquén Synod of the Presbyterian Church USA in Puerto Rico

Reverend Eunice Santana Melecio
Director of the Caribbean Ecumenical Institute of Action and Formation

Reverend Edgardo Caraballo Marin
Executive Minister Baptist of the Churches of Puerto Rico 

Reverend Edward Rivera Santiago
General Pastor United Evangelical Church of Puerto Rico

Reverend Felipe Lozada Montañez
Emeritus Bishop of the Caribbean Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Reverend Héctor Soto Vélez
Executive Director of the Council of Churches of Puerto Rico

Reverend Esteban González Dobles
Former General Pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Puerto Rico

Reverend Héctor F. Ortiz Vidal
Emeritus Bishop of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico

Reverend Rafael Moreno Rivas
Emeritus Bishop of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico

Reverend Juan A. Vera Méndez
Emeritus Bishop of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico

Reverend Heriberto Martínez Rivera
General Secretary of the Puerto Rico Bible Society

Reverend Enrique Camacho
Executive Director of Cáritas (Catholic Charities) of Puerto Rico 

Endorsements

Most Rev. Borys Gudziak
Archbishop of Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Reverend Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Reverend Dr. Karen Georgia Thompson
General Minister and President, United Church of Christ

Reverend Marco Cable
President, Disciples Overseas Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and Co-Executive, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ

Dr. Peter Makari
Transitional Executive, Wider Church Ministries, United Church of Christ and Co-Executive, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ

Reverend Bronwen Boswell
Acting Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (USA)

John Hill, Interim General Secretary, The United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society

Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie
General Secretary/President, National Council of Churches

Reverend Dr. Gabriel Salguero 
President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition (NALEC) and Pastor, The Gathering Place 

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director, Jubilee USA Network

Read the letter as a PDF here. 

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Bloomberg and Business Standard on the negative impact that the  policy of raising interest rates has on the developing country debt crisis. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

World’s Higher-for-Longer Rate Era Stokes Worry

By Craig Stirling and Eric Martin

In a statement released on Saturday, Jubilee USA Network, a Washington-based non-profit group advocating financial relief for poor nations, criticized the sustained push to hike borrowing costs at a time when the IMF is forecasting weak growth, and inflation is easing.

“The flawed policy of raising interest rates means that more developing countries face debt crisis,” said Executive Director Eric LeCompte. “More than half of all countries are having trouble paying their debts and meeting the basic needs of their people.”

Regarding the overall outlook, there were still words of comfort on offer in Marrakech, notably from Gopinath, who observed that “the core” of the financial system has held together, even if many wouldn’t have predicted that with the extent to which rates have risen.

Read more here.

On Sunday, the Annual International Monetary Fund and World Bank Meetings conclude. On Saturday, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF policymaking body, met as part of the IMF and World Bank Meetings. The global economy, economic growth, debt, inflation, and expanding IMF resources to respond to multiple crises are in focus on the agenda.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the G20 Finance Ministers meeting here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the Development Committee Meeting here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the Africa Catholic Bishops Annual Meetings statement here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF World Economic Outlook report and the Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on Annual Meetings agenda here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain raiser speech here. 

Eric LeCompte is quoted in Reuters, the New York Times, and US News on the divide within the G20 regarding the Israel and Gaza conflict. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

G20 communique omits mention of Middle East conflict

By Andrea Shalal

Failure to mention the violence revealed deep divisions roiling the G20, said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a coalition of more than 750 religious groups and organisations.

"What's happening in Israel and Gaza is a horrific tragedy and if we can't stand up for the protection of children on both sides, it shows how stalemated they are," he said.

The G20 has been deeply divided since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Its membership includes the United States, European powers, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, other major economies of Asia, South America and most recently the African Union.

Read more here.

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the Development Committee Communique here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the Africa Catholic Bishops Annual Meetings statement here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF World Economic Outlook report and the Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on Annual Meetings agenda here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain raiser speech here. 

The IMF and World Bank's Development Committee, a major policymaking body for the institutions, met in Marrakesh in the context of the IMF and World Bank Annual meetings. The Development Committee and the IMF and World Bank meetings focused on growth, debt, inflation, expanding development bank finance and aid, responses to the pandemic and the climate and food crises.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network and a United Nations finance expert who has monitored IMF meetings since 2010, releases the following statement on the World Bank and IMF Meetings and the Development Committee meeting:

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the Africa Catholic Bishops Annual Meetings statement here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on the IMF World Economic Outlook report and the Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF Global Financial Stability report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's statement on the IMF World Economic Outlook report here. 

Read Jubilee USA's press release on Annual Meetings agenda here.

Read Jubilee USA's press release on IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva's curtain raiser speech here. 

The Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Catholic Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) issued a statement urging world leaders to promote urgent debt relief, aid and lending policies to address the interlinked crises African countries face as the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings Commence in Marrakesh, Morocco. 

Read the statement here.

Read the press release on the statement here.

Debt, Finance and Future Lending Policies Urged in Advance of 2025 Jubilee Year

Israel and Gaza Conflict Raises Concerns for Global Economy

As World Leaders Head to Morocco, IMF Leader Raises Growth and Debt Challenges

Successive shocks since 2020 lost the world economy $3.7 trillion and poor countries are hit the hardest, noted IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. Georgieva delivered the annual curtain-raiser speech in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, ahead of the upcoming Morocco IMF, G20 and World Bank Annual Meetings.

“Georgieva highlights that most of the world is worse off since the pandemic began,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. LeCompte will participate in the upcoming Morocco meetings. “More people have become poor and inequality has gotten worse.”

According to the IMF, global economic growth remains below the 3.8 percent average of the two decades before the pandemic. 

Georgieva shared in her speech that more than half of low-income countries and one-fifth of emerging economies remain at high risk of debt crisis.

“At least 60 countries are in debt crises,” stated LeCompte who serves on United Nations expert groups on global debt. “As we head to Morocco meetings, world leaders can help solve the debt crisis or continue to do too little, too late."

Georgieva underscored the IMF deployment of $1 trillion since the pandemic, including Special Drawing Rights – an emergency currency that the IMF issued in 2021. She called for increasing IMF resources.

“Special Drawing Rights played a critical role in addressing the pandemic and rising global poverty," stated LeCompte. "Our world needs more aid like this as soon as possible."

Pope Francis urged international cooperation to tackle environmental crises, in a document released today. Laudate Deum – which in Latin means “Praise God” – is a follow-up to his 2015 Laudato Si, the most comprehensive Encyclical on climate and the environment.

“The Pope makes clear that the environmental crisis and plight of the poor are really the same crisis,” stated Eric LeCompte the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “Wealthy countries need to take responsibility for the ways they've caused the climate crisis and support poor countries that don't have the resources to deal with the crisis.”

Pointing to droughts and floods, dried-up lakes, communities swept away by seaquakes and flooding, Pope Francis laments that in spite of many negotiations and agreements, the transition to cleaner energy sources and lower emissions is not progressing quickly enough.

Last year, a group of experts estimated developing countries need $1 trillion in aid and finance annually to meet climate goals. Next week, the IMF and World Bank hold their Annual meetings in Marrakesh, the first time in 50 years that the meetings take place in Africa. According to the African Development Bank, Africa is the world's most vulnerable region to climate change. Leaders at the meetings will discuss proposals on debt and changes to the mission of the World Bank and other development banks to deal with the climate crisis and other global challenges.

In a chapter devoted specifically to the upcoming UN conference on climate change, COP28, that Dubai will host in November and December, the document states that it “can represent a change of direction or … will represent a great disappointment.”

“One of the most important messages from Francis is that world leaders must work together," noted LeCompte. "We can only deal with the challenges of poverty and the climate crisis through cooperation."

Read Laudate Deum: Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis here.

Read Encyclical Letter Laudato Si here.

During the week of October 9-15th, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and G20 will meet to make decisions that will determine which direction the world will go to solve the polycrisis. During the first rise in extreme poverty in a generation, we need your faith community to pray with us and help us move world leaders to make decisions that lead the world in the right direction. 

Presidents, prime ministers and world leaders are at the New York United Nations headquarters for the annual UN General Assembly meetings. Leaders during meetings are focused on global debt, aid, pandemic preparedness, environmental protections and the 2030 Sustainable Goals (SDGs).

“In 2015 the international community won a historic agreement on goals to lift countries out of poverty and protect our planet,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA. “We knew that the developing countries would need trillions of dollars to achieve development goals. Unfortunately the money that we need is nowhere in sight."

Ahead of the 2030 deadline to meet the SDGs, only 12% of the targets are on track, the UN reported earlier this year. 

"Debt relief remains on the United Nations agenda as a way to fund development and win the Sustainable Development Goals," noted LeCompte who serves on United Nations expert groups.

In December, the G20, the IMF and the World Bank initiated a Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable that brings together a limited number of stakeholders to bridge disagreements in implementing a debt restructuring process that the G20 created three years ago. Only four countries applied to the G20 process so far and Chad is the only country to reach conclusion of the process.

"G20 efforts are important because debt relief is a way to help countries get out of crisis,” stated LeCompte. "Beyond getting countries out of crisis, debt relief can be used to support countries achieve sustainable development."

The roundtable meets on the sidelines of the October IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Marrakesh. Its last meeting, earlier in September, focused on domestic debt restructuring issues.

Jubilee USA Network is mentioned in the National Catholic Reporter regarding the Africa Faith Leader Meeting in Nairobi. Read an excerpt below and click here for the full story.

Catholic bishops, faith leaders appeal for debt relief to help African countries

By Fredrick Nzwili

Ahead of major meetings of world leaders in September, such as the Africa Climate Summit, the G20 New Delhi Summit and the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly, Catholic bishops and faith leaders in Africa are calling for debt relief for the continent to give Africa a "life line" to escape the multiple crises plaguing its population.

Amid discontent linked to the rising cost of food and living and growing inflation in Africa, economic burdens have been frustrating development, swelling poverty, and triggering conflicts and protests in some of the countries, according to the leaders.

The keyword for them to fix many pressing needs of African people is debt, or rather its reduction.

Read more here.