| | Welcome to the Jubilee USA's action archive. Take a look at the mobilizations and campaigns that Jubilee USA has sustained with our local, national and international partners over the years. One of the solutions Jubilee USA is pushing to avoid falling off the "fiscal cliff" is to ask corporations to pay their fair share of taxes - instead of hiding billions of dollars just offshore. If the money hidden in tax havens is taxed fairly we can strengthen international development, education and healthcare. When we challenge corporations dodging taxes here, we are sending a message around the globe to confront the kind of corporate behavior that steals resources from the world's poorest countries. Take action and tell your Senators and Representative to close tax loopholes that allow corporations to evade taxes. Act Now! We need you to urge ABC and NBC to stop blackout coverage of the LIBOR scandal - the bank manipulation of a critical interest rate that made them rich and hurt many of us. Jubilee USA Network, The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate wrote these letters on August 6 to urge NBC Nightly News and ABC World News to start to cover one of the biggest banking scandals of our time. Over three months since the scandal broke and a month from the time we sent the letters, we still haven't received a response and these programs still haven't covered LIBOR. This Friday, the Sisters of Charity of NY are going to be delivering the petition to these programs - act now! According to the Economist, LIBOR - a benchmark for short term rates, when manipulated, affects payments for more than 800 trillion dollars of financial instruments and 99 percent of all commercial products including mortgages, credit cards and pensions, as reported by CNN. Read our coverage in the National Catholic Reporter and in Faith in Public Life's Blog. June 14 - Jubilee USA delivered a petition signed by thousands to the Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC urging the G20 to support mechanisms in accordance with a fair and transparent arbitration process (FTAP). Our message was well received during our meeting with two representatives from the Office of Economic Affairs to explain the urgent need for a fair, orderly and transparent international debt arbitration process. The petitions will be delivered to Mexico's Minister of Finance ahead of next week's G20 meeting in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Learn more here. Dodd-Frank Act - Cardin-Lugar AmendmentA victory for transparency and anti-corruption was won when the Securities and Exchange Commission voted on the final rules necessary to implement the Dodd-Frank Act (Cardin-Lugar Amendment), a vital move that will allow citizens, especially of developing nations, access to information to hold their governments accountable and fight corruption. Thanks to your actions, Jubilee USA and our partners at ONE and Publish What You Pay hand delivered a petition to the SEC that had over 110,000 signatures- and that petition was even mentioned in the SEC's decision. Passed over a year and a half ago, this Amendment required that companies reveal what they pay for extraction of oil, gas and minerals in foreign countries to the SEC. The SEC was slow to set these rules, mainly because big oil has been lobbying against it. The Cardin-Lugar Amendment was a coup for transparency in international finances and a step to help curb corruption. Click here to learn more. Read our press release featuring American Jewish World Service President Ruth Messinger and Jubilee's work on stopping these funds in the Wall Street Journal. Vulture Funds are predatory funds that buy poor countries' defaulted debt for pennies on the dollar, then sue for huge profits once the country gets debt relief. Learn more here. Ask Your Senator to Demand IMF and World Bank ReformDespite bipartisan tensions in Washington after the November 2010 mid-term elections, economic justice has brought Senators Casey (D-PA) and Lugar (R-IN) together to write a letter addressed to President Obama urging for the reform of the international financial system. This system, including the World Bank and IMF, continues to harm the world's poorest. More President Obama: Live Up to Your Word and Support the World's PoorFrom November 29th through December 10th, President Obama joined world leaders to participate in a critical conference on Climate Change. The 2010 UN Climate Change Conference was a vital opportunity for the Administration to support the creation and adequate funding of a Global Climate Fund that will help poor countries finance climate adaptation and mitigation and protect the world�s poorest from Climate Change related disasters. More Tell Congress and President Obama to Achieve the Millennium Development GoalsOn September 17-19, Jubilee USA participated in Stand Up! Take Action!, a weekend in which millions worldwide stand up to demand world leaders keep their promises to end poverty and inequality. The following week on September 23, President Obama recognized the need to keep our commitments to the world's poorest citizens. More
Take Action and Stop the Debt Vultures!The campaign to urge Michael Sheehan, owner of DAI and Donegal International, to drop his lawsuit against Zambia needs your support. More Have A Heart For LiberiaFor our first Sabbath Year action, tell U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. to cancel Liberia's $3.5 billion debt! More TELL CONGRESS: Broader Debt Cancellation Needed in 2007!This month, tell Your Member of Congress about the need for broader debt cancellation and urge them to support legislation that would cancel the debts of all impoverished countries that require it to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More
Take 2 Minutes and Tell Your Congressperson About the Sabbath YearWe've created a simple e-mail you can send to your Member of Congress that informs them about the moral and spiritual imperative of debt cancellation. Get your elected officials on board to cancel debt and help countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America meet the challenge of the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Send your Member of Congress an e-mail now! Stand Up & Speak Out About Liberia's Debt! From October 16 to 17 we're asking you to call Paul Wolfowitz with a simple message to cancel Liberia's debt without delay and without harmful conditions so that the millions of dollars currently scheduled to go to interest and back payments can instead be used for vital infrastructure and human needs. More Visit Us on Our Fall Speaking Tour!Jubilee USA is hitting the road this fall with our 2006 Global Connections Tour. Get involved when the tour stops in your region. Come to hear our dynamic speakers discuss how debt affects the people who must shoulder the expense of paying it back and the links between the debt and enviromental and social justice issues. More Take Advantage of August RecessWe encourage you to contact members of Congress (MOC) to support the JUBILEE Act while your Members are in the district. Before you pick up the phone or write a letter, get our tips on reaching your MOC. Also, consider contacting local City Council members to pass debt resolutions. More Break the Chains of Haiti's DebtGet educated on the impact of debt in Haiti and then take action by calling your Representative to cancel Haiti's debt! More The Price of OilGet educated on the connections between debt and oil. More Order Your Postcards: Drop the Debt, Cut the Strings!Jubilee USA is asking you to send a postcard to Congress and the Bush administration, demanding a Jubilee cancellation of debts without harmful strings attached. More Cancel Latin America's Debt!Learn why the Inter-American Development Bank must drop debt to fight poverty and send a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department. More Boycott World Bank BondsThe World Bank Bonds Boycott is building grassroots pressure for debt cancellation and changes to World Bank policies. Learn how you can get involved. More Stop Global AIDSDrop the Debt for AIDS More Life Over Debt National Lobby Day and Bill Sutherland InstituteJubilee USA Network and American Friends Service Committee's Life Over Debt program encourage Jubilee supporters to attend this lobby day and conference from June 23 to 26 in Washington, DC themed "The Challenge of Building People-Centered Economies in Africa." More Featured Event: Jubilee Grassroots ConferenceJoin Jubilee folks from around the country for our first annual Jubilee Grassroots Conference in Portland from May 19 to 20 in Portland, Oregon. More Join Jubilee for Ecumenical Advocacy Days!Jubilee USA invites you to join over 900 faith-based justice advocates in Washington, DC, from March 10 to 13 for Ecumenical Advocacy Days. More
Call on World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to Cancel Liberia October 16 to November 15, 2006Jubilee USA is excited to announce our annual Global Connections Speaking Tour! There are two legs of the tour, each with a specific focus and speakers. Click on the city and read about the planned events in that location. Those cities not currently linked will have information coming soon. Check back for updates to our city listings. Drop the Debt, Invest in People!Debt and the Millennium Development Goals
October 22 to November 15
Western Pennsylvania: October 22-25
Columbus, Ohio: October 29-31
Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana: November 3-7
Chicago, Illinois November 8-11
Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky: November 13-15 Our speakers are Charity Musamba of Zambia, and R Charity Musamba (Zambia) has served as National Coordinator for the Debt Cancellation and Trade Justice Project of Jubilee Zambia and as Research and Communications Officer for the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection in Lusaka, Zambia. She participated in the Zambian government Lidy Nacpil (Philippines) is International Coordinator of Jubilee South, a network of anti-debt coalitions in more than 60 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She currently serves as vice president of the Freedom from Debt Coalition in the Philippines, the oldest organization working for debt cancellation since 1988. FDC supports a Citizens Asume Osuoka (Nigeria) is the Energy and Mining Program Manager at Environmental Rights Action (Friends of the Earth, Nigeria). He has for almost a decade worked assiduously to mobilize Niger Delta communities that are negatively impacted by oil and gas exploitation activities and led the effort to develop monitoring and advocacy programs in support of change in policy and practice of oil corporations, governments and allied international finance institutions. Asume has been promoting the exchange of experiences and solidarity building in sub-Saharan Africa as coordinator of Oilwatch Africa, a network of communities, human rights and environment NGOs that are struggling against the abuses of the oil and gas industries and governments in the countries of the region. An avid campaigner and organizer for democratic change in Nigeria, Mr. Osuoka continues to experience threats and harassment from state security agents. In 1998, he was held by the military regime of General Sani Abacha for over a month without charge or trial, and was released only after the death of the dictator. Starting in December 2006, Osuoka will be working with Social Action, a project for education, mobilization and solidarity for communities and activists for environmental justice and democracy in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. Asume is a speaker for the "New Energy for Debt Cancellation" leg of the Global Connections Tour.
Meet with your representative about the JUBILEE Act We encourage you to contact members of Congress to support the JUBILEE Act while your Members are in the district for August recess. The JUBILEE Act (H.R. 1130) expresses a much broader vision for debt cancellation than the deal reached at the 2005 G-8 summit. We need to send the message that the G-8 deal was only the first step on a long journey toward global economic justice. Unlike the G-8 agreement, the JUBILEE Act would commit the U.S. to work for debt cancellation for 50 impoverished nations without devastating economic conditions. Moreover, the Act requires that debt cancellation be paid for from the IMF/World Bank's own resources.
Please call, write or meet with your Member of Congress (MOC) and ask him or her to co-sponsor the Act. To co-sponsor the bill the Member's staff should call Kathleen Sengstock in Representative Maxine Waters' office at (202) 225-2201. If your Representative has already co-sponsored the bill, please call to thank them. Click here to find out who is already a co-sponsor.
Don't know who your Representative is?
Go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code to find out. To contact your Representative, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. After you are connected with your Representative's office, ask to speak to the staff person who handles the IMF, World Bank, and international debt issues.
Please contact your Representative today!
Click here for sample talking points. Click here for tips on contacting congress.
What is the JUBILEE Act?
Representatives Waters (D-CA), Leach (R-IA), Frank (D-MA), Bachus (R-AL), Lee (D-CA), and Maloney (D-NY) re-introduced the JUBILEE Act (H.R. 1130) on March 3, 2005. The JUBILEE Act is groundbreaking legislation that would require the U.S. Treasury Department to work in appropriate multilateral settings to achieve 100 percent cancellation of the debts of 50 nations by international financial institutions. Debt cancellation will free up desperately needed resources for impoverished nations to fight HIV/AIDS, fund education, and provide clean water to their people. The bill urges that debt cancellation be funded through the international financial institutions' own resources and that it comes without harmful economic conditions attached. See the JUBILEE Act Summary and JUBILEE Act FAQ for more information on how the JUBILEE Act goes beyond the G-8 debt deal.
Background: A Critical Moment on Debt!
The 2005 G-8 debt cancellation agreement resulted from the public outcry against the growing global poverty gap. Debt cancellation is desperately needed; in 2005 alone three million people in Africa died due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Yet countries on the African continent still send an estimated $15 billion in debt service to the IMF, World Bank, and wealthy creditor nations each year. It is urgent that debt cancellation be extended to all African countries, along with every other impoverished nation. This is a critical moment in the campaign for debt cancellation. And the JUBILEE Act is a critical vehicle to help us to achieve our goal.
In order to pass the JUBILEE Act, we need additional Congressional co-sponsors to join the 82 current co-sponsors. The more co-sponsors we have, the sooner the bill will be brought to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Meet with your Representative!
In addition to calling your representative's office in Washington, DC, you can also meet with your Representative or a key staff member. Call the district office (the phone number can be found on the House of Representative�s web site), and explain that you and a group of other concerned constituents are interested in meeting with the Representative about the JUBILEE Act. Members are easier to meet with when they are home in their district in August. Try to gather a group of influential members of your community, like religious or business leaders to make the visit with you. If you can't make an appointment with your Member directly, ask for the chief of staff in the district office. At the meeting, express that you would like for your concerns to be shared with the Representative. Ask that the Representative co-sponsor the bill and set a date to follow up with the staff person regarding whether the Representative intends to sign onto the bill as a co-sponsor.
More Information
Summary and FAQ
A Copy of the Bill
Members of Congress Discuss the JUBILEE Act
Country Debt Sheets
Co-sponsors from the 109th Congress
For more information on the JUBILEE Act, contact Debayani Kar at 202-783-0215 or debi(at)jubileeusa.org.
Representatives Waters (D-CA), Leach (R-IA), Frank (D-MA), Bachus (R-AL), Lee (D-CA), and Maloney (D-NY) re-introduced the JUBILEE Act (HR 1130) in March 2005.
The JUBILEE Act is groundbreaking legislation that would require the U.S. Treasury Department to work in appropriate multilateral settings to achieve 100 percent cancellation of the debts of 50 nations by the multi-lateral development institutions including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The bill urges that the debt cancellation be paid for from the international financial institutions 1. Why were these countries chosen for inclusion in the bill?
Initially, Jubilee USA Network had a longer list of countries that need debt cancellation, but Congressional sponsors requested that some be removed. Some countries that are heavily indebted poor countries are not on the list Call your representative about the Jubilee Act: - Hello! My name is Jessica Jones and I am from Houston, Texas. I am a constituent of Representative XXX.
- I am calling to ask Representative XXX to co-sponsor the Jubilee Act or H.R. 1130.
- The Jubilee Act would require the U.S. Treasury Department to work in all appropriate settings to achieve 100 percent cancellation of the debts of 50 nations by international financial institutions.
- Complete debt cancellation is needed for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Currently half of all African countries spend more on debt service than on health care.
- Debt relief works! After the limited amount of debt cancellation given so far, Uganda has doubled its school enrollment and Mozambique has vaccinated 500,000 children.
Urge Your Rep.: Cancel Haiti's Debt!Thank you Jubilee supporters for calling your members of Congress on July 25th to urge them to support a House resolution that would immediately cancel Haiti's debt. Your efforts generated 16 new co-sponsors to H.Res. 888!
The Haiti debt cancellation resolution (H.Res. 888) urges the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and other international financial institutions to completely cancel Haiti's debt without delays!
In April, Haiti was added to the World Bank and IMF's list of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) eligible for debt cancellation, just after new president Rene Preval was elected in February. But under the harmful economic conditions of the World Bank and IMF's debt relief program, Haiti will not see this relief until December 2009 at the earliest, by which time the country will have paid $220 million in debt service that could have gone towards education, health care, or other social sector spending.
The existing program also excludes cancellation of Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) debt which accounts for $470 million, nearly half the country's debt to international financial institutions. H.Res. 888, which was introduced June 22nd by Representative Maxine Waters along with Mark Foley, Barney Frank, Spencer Bachus, and Barbara Lee, among others, will urge the World Bank, IMF, and IDB to immediately cancel Haiti's debt.
Haiti's debt is both unpayable and unjust. 45 percent of the country's $1.4 billion debt was accrued under the Duvalier family dictatorship and used to finance the Duvalier's lavish lifestyle and support their 29-year rule, notorious for human rights abuses. The Haitian people continue to pay interest on these loans of a clearly odious nature. This is money that could be used to invest in health care or education in a country where 23 percent of children under five are chronically malnourished and only 35% of students are able to complete primary school.
From 2005 to 2009, Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, is projected to pay $220 million in debt service. To put this number in perspective, this is more than double the amount Haiti spent in FY2001 on education, health, roads, the environment, and water and urban infrastructure combined. Immediate cancellation of Haiti's debt would allow the country to stop paying interest on odious debts and free up much needed resources for the country to invest in health and education.
Contact Your Representative if You Haven't Already!
You can help Haiti achieve immediate debt cancellation without delays or strings attached by calling your representative and asking them to co-sponsor the Haiti debt cancellation resolution in the House (H.Res. 888). To co-sponsor the resolution, the Member's staff should call Kathleen Sengstock in Representative Maxine Waters' office at (202) 225-2201). Representative Waters helped introduce this resolution to Congress. If your Representative has already co-sponsored the resolution, please call to thank them. To find contact information for your representative, visit http://www.house.gov/writerep.
Find out whether your Representative has co-sponsored this resolution. Oil's Price: Connections Between Debt & OilWe know many of you are thinking about the price of gas these days given the record prices across the country, but what about the price of oil?
High oil prices hit more than just our wallets: - Oil consumption contributes to global warming
- Oil production causes more debt, conflict, corruption and poverty in impoverished countries
- An upsurge in oil prices helped spark the international debt crisis in the 1970s, and is threatening to trigger another one now
To take action, we are asking you to get educated on these connections between debt and oil. Get Educated!Study Guide on Debt and Oil
Please share this study guide on debt and oil with your local Jubilee group, your local congregation, with friends, family and interested colleagues. More
Our Addiction to Oil is Fueling World Poverty
See this essay from the Center for American Progress on the connections between oil and poverty. More
Drilling Into Debt: An Investigation into the Relationship between Debt and Oil
Read this report by Oil Change International which details the relationship between increased oil production and increased debt in impoverished countries. More
The Debt Boomerang: How Americans Would Benefit from Cancellation of Impoverished Country Debts
Read Boomerang 3 which explains how impoverished country debt contributes to global warming, in this paper by Institute for Policy Studies. More
Take Action!
Urge your city council to pass a resolution for debt cancellation because of how debt fuels global warming. Check out the great resources on the Debt Boomerang website from Institute for Policy Studies to learn how debt fuels global warming, and then take a sample resolution to your city council. More Cancel Latin America's Debt!The next step on debt is to make sure that Latin American countries get a fair deal. From April 3-5, the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB), the regional development bank for Latin America, will hold its annual meeting in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Four of the 18 countries whose debts were cancelled by world leaders this summer continue to pay millions to the IDB each year instead of on health and education. Other nations like Haiti, Peru, and Ecuador with extreme poverty also require debt cancellation. Now is an opportune time to be doing advocacy work around IDB debt cancellation ahead of these annual meetings.
We ask that you take action on this issue by getting educated and then writing to US Treasury using our automated e-mail form.
Get educated! Article: Cancel Haiti's Debt, Now! This article by Mark Schuller gives an overview of the urgent need to cancel Haiti's debt, from Jubilee USA's Summer 2006 newsletter. Factsheet on Cancelling Latin America's Debt (.pdf) [en espanol] Please share this factsheet in the Inter-American Development Bank with your local Jubilee chapter, your local congregation, with friends, family, and interested colleagues.
Justice for Latin America on IDB Debts (.pdf) [en espanol] This joint report from Eurodad, Latindad, Fundacion Jubileo, and the Institute for Nicaraguan Studies details the case for cancelling Inter-American Development Bank debt NOW!
Take action! Write to US Treasury asking the Bush administration to support cancellation of debt in Latin America.
Host a screening of the film "Deadly Embrace." This film examines the impact of debt and harmful economic policies on Nicaragua. You can organize a screening in your home, at a meeting of your organization, during your congregation's council meeting, at a potluck supper, or while tabling at other social justice events.
Policy Updates: Inter-American Development Bank meetings conclude without a deal on debt. Congressional Hispanic Caucus calls for 'definitive cancellation' of impoverished Latin American country debts. Take Action for Global Economic Justice in Your Faith CommunityWhat is the World Bank Bonds Boycott?
The World Bank Bonds Boycott is a growing campaign in which people of faith, students, union members and taxpayers are putting political and financial pressure on the World Bank for change, and also building the global justice movement. It is modeled after the South African anti-apartheid divestment movement.
What is wrong with the World Bank?
The World Bank is one of the most powerful financial institutions in the world. People in the global South (or the so-called "Third World") struggle every day with harmful structural adjustment programs imposed upon them by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Among other things, these programs require governments to increase fees for health care and sell off public water utilities to profit-seeking multinationals, putting clean water out of reach for the people who need it most. Moreover, because governments of impoverished countries have to prioritize debt repayments to the World Bank and IMF over social needs, poor people go without education, AIDS prevention and treatment, and clean water. The UN has estimated that 19,000 children die every day from preventable diseases because of the debt burden - and much of the debt is owed to these institutions.
How does the campaign work?
The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) raises roughly $20 billion on the bond market every year. Investors, including parishes, religious communities, and dioceses; city and state government pension funds; universities; mutual fund investors; and union pension funds are among the buyers of World Bank bonds. Through the World Bank Bonds Boycott, people of faith, taxpayers, working people, and students build political pressure to end harmful World Bank policies, by getting their churches, religious communities, municipalities, etc. to commit not to buy World Bank bonds in the future.
Who has already adopted the boycott?
A growing number of religious communities are joining the campaign in the U.S., such as the School Sisters of Notre Dame Cooperative Investment Fund, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the Sisters of Saint Francis of Tiffin (Ohio), the Sisters of Loretto and the Marianist Brothers and Priests/New York Province. Pax Christi USA and the Jubilee USA Network have endorsed the campaign. The Unitarian Universalist General Assembly adopted the boycott at their annual meeting in late June.
The cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Takoma Park, and Boulder have passed resolutions against buying World Bank bonds. More than a dozen unions, including the American Federation of Government Employees, the Communications Workers of America, the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have adopted the boycott. Moreover, ten of the largest socially responsible investment firms have pledged not to buy World Bank bonds. Dozens of resolutions are currently pending in city councils, unions, religious communities, and on campuses across the country.
Who launched the World Bank Bonds Boycott campaign?
The World Bank Bonds Boycott was launched in April 2000 by representatives of economic and environmental justice groups from over 35 countries in the global South and the United States. Some of the main co-initiators of the World Bank Bonds Boycott include Jubilee coalitions in Haiti, Ecuador, and South Africa. Jubilee South has since also endorsed the campaign. The campaign is directed by an International Coordinating Committee with representatives from 11 countries.
What are the campaign May 19-20 in Portland, OregonYou are invited to join Jubilee Oregon and the Jubilee USA Network on Friday May 19th and Saturday May 20th, for our first annual grassroots conference and skills training! This conference is a key opportunity to network & plan for the next big push on debt in the 2007 Sabbath Year. We won some significant victories in the past year and have successfully held the IMF and World Bank accountable to keep their promises regarding the G8 debt cancellation deal. With this conference, we will enter a new phase of our work as we plan and prepare to push for a more prophetic Jubilee vision of debt cancellation without delays and harmful economic conditions in the 2007 Sabbath Year.
Come to Portland this May 19-20th to deepen your knowledge of the debt issue, network with Jubilee supporters from around the country, strengthen the skills you will need to work for debt cancellation and economic justice for the world Join Jubilee For Ecumenical Advocacy DaysEcumenical Advocacy Days: March 10-13, 2006
Jubilee USA invites you to join over 900 faith-based justice advocates in Washington, DC, March 10-13 for Ecumenical Advocacy Days. The 2006 conference, |
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