2021/2022 Report

December 29, 2022
Friends,

Most of the world's countries continue to struggle with impacts of the pandemic, soaring food prices and a climate crisis. As we review our efforts together over the last year, we moved forward solutions to the climate crisis and pandemic and we won the largest amounts of relief and aid in our 25 year history.

Read and share our 2021-2022 report as we look back on our work and continue efforts to address the root causes of poverty, inequality and climate and financial crisis.

In our report, you'll read about our New York legislation to resolve debt crises, protect US tax payers and stop economic shocks. Almost 50 countries benefited from our debt relief efforts. We won hundreds of billions in new pandemic response aid, secured student debt relief and Puerto Rico aid advanced.

We produced new research on how the pandemic is impacting 24 countries. Hundreds of Jubilee congregations, faith communities and partners organized with us to push the G20, IMF and White House to implement policies to resolve the current climate and financial crisis - and prevent future crises.

While our campaigns continue to succeed, we'll need your help as world leaders continue to make critical decisions about our lives, livelihoods and planets. Read and share our Jubilee USA Network 2021-2022 report.

We look forward to continuing to work with you in the new year and beyond.

Gratefully,

Aldo Caliari
Senior Director of Policy and Campaigns
Jubilee USA Network
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

PS. Please join me and donate now to support our Jubilee USA mission and efforts to protect our lives, livelihoods and planet.

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Call the Senate: Urgent Puerto Rico Healthcare, Jobs, Poverty Relief

December 21, 2022

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators. You will need to call twice to reach each of your US Senators. The switchboard is open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to leave a message for your Senator.

If you need help finding your Senators, you can ask the Capitol Switchboard attendant by telling them in what state you reside or use this link.

Once you are connected, ask to leave a time-sensitive message for your Senator.

"Thank you for taking my call. I live in your state, my name and address is______________. Unless Congress takes action, Puerto Rico faces a Medicaid budget gap of more than $2.5 billion. I want the Senator to help the people of Puerto Rico recover from debt crises, natural disasters and tackle a nearly 60% child poverty rate, by:

1.) Increasing funds for Puerto Rico healthcare Medicaid program for at least the next five years, and pass a permanent fix.

2.) Supporting Puerto Rico nutrition assistance parity with the states;

3.) Passing measures to increase manufacturing jobs in Puerto Rico."

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Congress Votes Puerto Rico Health, Jobs, Protect Debt Relief

December 21, 2022

Friends,

Before the year ends, Congress will pass a major budget bill. The spending package should include Puerto Rico funding for healthcare, jobs and poverty reduction.

Please call your Senators and ask them to support relief and opportunity for Puerto Rico.

Earlier this year, we joined 25 Puerto Rico and US major religious leaders to call for steps to end child poverty and promote economic recovery after a new debt deal passed on the island. Puerto Rico wrestles with a 60% child poverty rate, continuing economic crises and natural disasters. The debt settlement cut debt payments by two-thirds, a historical achievement under bankruptcy legislation we won together.

Absent Congressional action, Puerto Rico loses 85% of its Medicaid funding. The budget shortfall of more than $2.5 billion means dramatic losses in healthcare access for residents still living in the public health emergency left by Hurricane Fiona. Such staggering reduction also erodes funding for rebuilding programs and the most vulnerable.

You can leave a message for your Senators as they prepare to vote before the end of the year. The Capitol Switchboard is open 24/7.

While a lot hinges on solving the Medicaid crisis, Puerto Rico still needs a comprehensive agenda including funding for nutrition and other social programs, disaster relief and jobs. Add your voice to our highest-ranking religious leaders and help us move Congress to reset Puerto Rico on a path to recovery and protect the gains of debt relief.

Gratefully,

Aldo Caliari
Senior Director of Policy and Campaigns
Jubilee USA Network
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

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Enough 4 All, GivingTuesday Gift

November 29, 2022

Friends,

On #GivingTuesday, I'm asking you to make a gift to Jubilee USA Network to help us build a world where everyone has enough.

Over the last year, with your partnership, we won hundreds of billions for developing countries, a new UN climate fund to help developing countries address climate change damage and new tax and trade agreements that protect people. Our proposals won debt relief for the world's most vulnerable countries. In Puerto Rico, legislation we won yielded a debt settlement slashing two-thirds of the territory’s debt payments. This year, we also introduced historic New York legislation to win debt relief, protect US taxpayers and address supply shocks.

With a pandemic crisis that continues in many developing countries, the war in Ukraine, rising cost of living and energy and food shortages - your support is needed for us to continue our efforts.

Over the next year, the G20, G7 and IMF make the next round of decisions regarding developing country debt, protecting our planet and global economic crises solutions.

Please join me and make a tax-deductible gift on #GivingTuesday so Jubilee USA continues our vital efforts on pandemic response, debt relief and winning solutions to prevent future crisis. Donations are doubled now.

In solidarity,

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director

www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

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Won, Lost, Still Fighting for G20/IMF Pandemic Response: Lives, Livelihoods and Planet

November 27, 2022

Friends,

In recent weeks world leaders met at the IMF, G20, World Bank and United Nations Climate Conference on decisions affecting our lives, livelihoods and planet. All of the decisions are more urgent given the Ukraine war and that the pandemic deepened poverty, inequality and crises around the world and across the United States.

In the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic, we took action together. We mapped out a plan to win solutions to resolve the current crisis and prevent the next crisis.

Together - we won hundreds of billions in new aid and debt relief for pandemic response. We won new processes to lift the vulnerable, share vaccines, fight the impacts of climate change and resolve debt crises. We need to ask you to do more as we need more progress. Sign our petition to the IMF and G20 to cancel debt, expand crisis aid, bolster global healthcare and provide the resources to protect our planet.
Because of our work together, we won $230 billion for developing countries and another $100 billion in commitments (Special Drawing Rights). As of this week, we have a new fund for developing countries to fight the impacts of climate change. We won new tax and trade agreements. We gained debt relief for the world's most vulnerable countries and a new developing country debt process. Using bankruptcy legislation we won, Puerto Rico slashed its debt payments by two-thirds. Now, our historic legislation is introduced in New York to win debt relief, protect US taxpayers and address supply shocks.

Unfortunately, developing countries still face lost decades of development and aid and climate commitments are moving too slowly. The new debt relief processes are still not producing enough debt relief fast enough. We need to win hundreds of billions in resources to resolve the current economic and climate crises and meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Thanks for your partnership,

Aldo Caliari
Senior Director of Policy and Strategy

www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

PS. Now through #GivingTuesday and until the end of the year donations are doubled to Jubilee USA Network. Please make a gift now. 

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UN Climate Conference Agrees on Fund to Address Climate Change Impacts in Developing Countries

November 25, 2022

 

COP27 Agreement Asserts Climate Change Results in High Debts and Development Failures

Delegates from 200 countries closed this year’s UN climate summit, COP27, with an agreement to create a fund to compensate countries most vulnerable to climate change. The accord reached in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, recognizes that climate-related damage contributes to growing debt burdens and hurts development in countries. 

"During the climate conference negotiations, the concept of loss and damage refers to negative climate change impacts that include extreme weather events, rising sea levels and destruction of forests," noted Eric LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert and leader of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA Network. "A number of countries have chronic debt problems that can be traced to the growing severity and frequency of natural disasters."

Future negotiations will determine the loss and damage fund parameters and set it in motion.

"When wealthy countries took and consumed natural resources from developing countries to fuel industrialization, it spurred global warming and climate change impacts like rising sea levels that developing countries can't stop alone," noted LeCompte. "This new climate fund can start to repay a climate debt that wealthy countries owe to developing countries."

Negotiators also reviewed progress on setting a new climate finance goal and reiterated the plan to finalize it by 2024. In a report commissioned by the COP presidencies of last year and this year, a group of experts estimated developing countries need $1 trillion annually to meet climate goals. Wealthy countries failed to meet a $100 billion annual climate finance commitment, promised in 2009.

“In order to get the resources we need to fight climate change we'll need debt relief, more money from development banks and other innovative sources of aid,” added LeCompte. “This is why G20 and IMF decisions are so critical to raising the resources we need to protect our planet, lives and jobs.”

Last year the Group of 20 decided to create $650 billion in IMF emergency currency or Special Drawing Rights. Developing countries' share was more than $230 billion and the G20 targeted $100 billion of the share wealthy economies received, to finance poorest members. Proposals on debt relief and scaling up loans from global development lenders are also on the group’s agenda. The G20 heads of state met in Bali, Indonesia, on November 15-16, while climate negotiations were still ongoing, and agreed to take action to limit temperature rises to 1.5 °C.

“The G20 commitment to limit global warming helped the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations at a crucial moment when continuing the target was in doubt,” shared LeCompte. 

 

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Praising the Eternal, Thanksgiving Chairs Message

November 24, 2022

Friends,

Across the US, as we pause for this moment of praise, thanks and hope - all of us at Jubilee wish to thank-you for working with us to build a world where we all have enough. See below a note of Thanksgiving from Jubilee's new Co-Chairs Rabbi Matthew Cutler and Sobia Ijaz.

Thank-you for you,

Eric LeCompte
Executive Director
www.jubileeusa.org/support-us

------

A message from Co-Chairs Sobia Ijaz and Rabbi Matthew Cutler:

"I give thanks before You, living and eternal Sovereign, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness”
- Modeh Ani

"In the name of Allah,
the Gracious, the Merciful.
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,
The Gracious, the Merciful,
Master of the Day of Judgment."
- (1:1-4) Qur'an

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...
for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children forever."
- The Magnificat (Mary's Prayer)

Friends -

Amidst times of suffering and loss, we praise the Eternal One, celebrate the harvest and follow the promise. We are grateful to join you and the many builders of a Jubilee world where we all reap the promised harvest, demanded by the Eternal One.

We give thanks that many of our Jubilee USA Network efforts to protect our planet, lives and livelihoods succeeded in 2022. Thanks to our partners, members and donors who continue to work until the promise is fulfilled. We appreciate our wonderful Jubilee team, board and leadership community that drive our efforts on pandemic response, poverty, inequality and climate.

On behalf of all of us at Jubilee, we give thanks for you and wish you and your loved ones a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.


In hope,



Rabbi Matthew Cutler
Jubilee USA Network Co-Chair


Sobia Ijaz
Jubilee USA Network Co-Chair

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Presbyterian Mission Agency and partners reveal how debt relief addresses systemic injustices across the globe

November 22, 2022

Presbyterian Mission Agency and partners reveal how debt relief addresses systemic injustices across the globe

‘Forgive us our debts’ from Puerto Rico and Sri Lanka to New York.

By Presbyterian News Service

“Irresponsible borrowing decisions are felt on the backs of the people” Catherine Gordon, representative for international issues in the Office of Public Witness, said in Debt, Disaster and Corruption, the first in a series of global debt webinars co-sponsored by OPW, the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

Read full article here.

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Biden and 90 Other Heads of State Descend on COP27 United Nations Climate Summit

November 04, 2022

Resources for Climate Action and Poor are Major Themes for Egypt Meetings

President Biden joins ninety heads of state in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the COP27 climate summit beginning this weekend. UN analysis finds that current action commitments fall short of reaching global warming goals made during the 2015 UN Paris Agreement.

“This year we experienced record heat waves, floods and natural disasters. If we fail to take action to address climate change, we'll see increasingly worse impacts from the climate crisis,” stated Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “As world leaders gather in Africa, the continent most vulnerable to climate change, we see the impacts of the climate crisis on the poor and our global economy.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that in 2020 annual climate aid from developed to developing countries was $17 billion short of progress towards a $100 billion target agreed back in 2009. At the UN summit, leaders negotiate a revised climate action funding target for beyond 2025. 

"More than half of developing countries spend a quarter of their budget on paying debt," noted LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert. "Debt relief is an important part of reaching climate action goals for countries."

At October IMF and World Bank meetings, climate action was a critical part of discussions on debt and lending. Global leaders began a process to reform development banks to lend more for global priorities such as climate. A new IMF process also began that uses donations from wealthy countries to support long-term, cheap loans to developing countries that can support climate action.

“The success of the climate summit is all about showing us the money,” shared LeCompte. "The bottom line is whether or not we can raise the financial contributions to address the climate crisis."

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New Business Ethiopia Quotes Eric LeCompte on the Finance in Common Summit

October 26, 2022

New Business Ethiopia Quotes Eric LeCompte on the Finance in Common Summit, noting the need for multilateral development banks can expand their approaches to tackling global crises. Read an excerpt below, and click here for the full article.

Global development banks to avail loans for crisis recovery

By NBE

The third yearly Finance in Common Summit takes place amidst a world economy facing multiple shocks and calls for increasing lending capacity for development banks. “What distinguishes this third Finance in Common from the two previous ones, is that now there are proposals to push development banks to do more,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “Development banks play an important role in crises. With the pandemic, Ukraine war, inflation, food prices and climate challenges, we will demand more of them.”

Read here for more. 

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Hundreds of Billions in New Lending on the Table at Cote d’Ivoire Gathering

October 18, 2022

World Development Banks Meet for Third Annual Summit

World leaders and more than 450 development banks meet for two days on aligning loans with crisis recovery and tackling environmental challenges. The third yearly Finance in Common Summit takes place in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, amidst a world economy facing multiple shocks and calls for increasing lending capacity for development banks.

“What distinguishes this third Finance in Common from the two previous ones, is that now there are proposals to push development banks to do more,” said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “Development banks play an important role in crises. With the pandemic, Ukraine war, inflation, food prices and climate challenges, we will demand more of them.”

In July, a G20-established panel of experts proposed changes to the way banks determine loan risk, assess available capital, and communicate with credit rating agencies. Frannie Léautier, Senior Partner at SouthBridge Group and CEO of SouthBridge Investments, chaired the group, comprising fourteen experts from a variety of backgrounds. According to the panel, global development banks can lend hundreds of billions more to poor countries. G20 officials met on the proposals last week.

“The report shows a pathway to expand development bank lending dramatically,” noted LeCompte who tracks G20 policies.

Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for multilateral development banks to devise new approaches to respond to global challenges.

“Development banks require reforms of their operations, practices and lending models in order to deal effectively with the current crises,” stated LeCompte.

African Catholic bishops and religious leaders met in Accra, Ghana, last month and asserted that development banks can use more capital to provide loans in times of crisis, but they lack the resources to meet 21st century challenges. In a letter to President Biden early last year, Jubilee USA Network and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops called for significantly increasing multilateral development banks lending volumes, through a mix of increasing and improving use of capital. A similar letter was sent with more than 200 religious groups echoing the need for boosting development bank capacity.

The G20 is working on processes for wealthy countries to disburse some of their pandemic emergency currency, or Special Drawing Rights to poor countries. The IMF created $650 billion in SDRs, to help countries respond to the pandemic, of which advanced economies received more than $400 billion. This month, the IMF initiated operations for a new lending window, the Resilience and Sustainability Trust, that will fund its loans with Special Drawing Rights aid that wealthy countries share.

“We need to find ways to get more funding for development banks,” shared LeCompte. “Special Drawing Rights donations from wealthy countries to development banks can help us narrow the current funding gap."

Read Jubilee USA and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' letter to President Biden here.
Read the African Catholic Bishops and religious leader statement here.
Read 'The Independent Review of MDBS Capital Adequacy: Boosting MDBs’ Investing Capacity' here.
Read Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen's remarks here.
Find the Finance in Common webpage here.
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Badische Zeitung Quotes Executive Director Eric LeCompte on Sluggish African Aid

October 16, 2022

German news company Badische Zeitung quotes Eric LeCompte on the IMF and World Bank's sluggish aid towards African countries. Read an original and translated excerpt from the article, and click here for the full article

Afrika ist unzufrieden

By Rolf Obertreis

Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen wie etwa das Jubilee USA Network äußern ebenfalls Kritik. "Die Kombination aus hoher Inflation und Rezession trifft die Armen und Ärmsten massiv", klagt Jubilee-Direktor Eric LeCompte. Einige der vorgeschlagenen Einspar-Lösungen und höhere Zinsen würden zusätzliche Schmerzen verursachen. Dazu kämen die Folgen des Klimawandels, die arme und ärmste Länder besonders treffen. Mindestens 300 Milliarden Dollar seien für Anpassungsmaßnahmen bis 2050 nötig, heißt es beim IWF. Die Nicht-Regierungsorganisation Eurodad sieht 85 Prozent der Weltbevölkerung von rigiden Sparmaßnahmen betroffen. Unter anderem würden Programme zur Unterstützung von Frauen, Kindern und Älteren gestrichen, Gehälter von Lehrkräften gekappt und Subventionen für den Gesundheitssektor getilgt.

(Translated) Non-governmental organizations such as the Jubilee USA Network have also expressed criticism. "The combination of high inflation and recession is hitting the poor and the poorest hard," complains Jubilee director Eric LeCompte. Some of the proposed savings solutions and higher interest rates would cause additional pain. In addition, there are the consequences of climate change, which hit poor and poorest countries particularly hard. According to the IMF, at least 300 billion dollars are needed for adjustment measures by 2050. The non-governmental organization Eurodad sees 85 percent of the world's population affected by rigid austerity measures. Among other things, programs to support women, children and the elderly would be canceled, teachers' salaries would be cut and subsidies for the health sector would be eliminated.

 

Read here for more.

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Dec 29, 2022

2021/2022 Report

Friends,Most of the world's countries continue to struggle with impacts of the pandemic, soaring food prices and a climate crisis....
Read More