Donors Announce $93 Billion in COVID and Development Aid for Poorest Countries
Washington DC – A World Bank fund that aids the poorest countries will receive $93 billion over the next three years. The International Development Association (IDA) announcement came Wednesday at the end of a two-day donor pledging meeting in Tokyo.
“As poor countries struggle with the pandemic and high levels of debt, they need more support,” said Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA Network. "Religious groups pushed world leaders to increase humanitarian aid for developing countries struggling with the pandemic."
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops and Jubilee USA Network wrote a joint letter to President Biden in February urging additional funds for IDA and other development lenders to respond to increased COVID-spurred needs.
“The committed donations are important as these countries need to spend more on social needs and climate challenges," stated Jubilee USA's Aldo Caliari, the group's Senior Director of Policy.
IDA normally receives new funds every three years. The IDA replenishment is the 20th in its history and was originally scheduled for 2023 but rapid depletion of the previous one due to the COVID crisis, prompted donors to advance new funding by one year. The new IDA commitments were 13% higher than the previous replenishment. The Tokyo meeting was the last of four donor meetings to negotiate contributions.
“More money for IDA is good news,” added LeCompte. "As we continue to confront the global health and economic crises, developing countries will also need debt relief and other sources of aid."
Major US churches and international religious groups also signed a letter that Jubilee USA coordinated to the White House, G20 and IMF calling for additional aid to confront the pandemic. The nearly 300 signers included the Union for Reform Judaism, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and United Church of Christ Churches.
Read Jubilee USA and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops joint letter to the White House here.
Read Jubilee USA's COVID response letter calling for additional aid and development bank support with nearly 300 signatories here.
Economic Impacts on Poor are Central Themes of Francis Five-Year Papacy
Washington DC - This week marks the five-year anniversary of the election of Pope Francis as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Eric LeCompte is the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA and he advises the Vatican and Catholic Church on economic and development issues. LeCompte releases the following statement celebrating five years of Pope Francis:
"As we celebrate the five-year anniversary of the election of Pope Francis, we celebrate how powerfully he expresses the plight of the poor.
"The Catholic Church has always called for our global economy to serve and protect the poor. As Pope, Francis has also spoken about how particular aspects of the financial system need to change to protect the poor. Francis endorsed a global bankruptcy process to stop financial crisis and prevent predatory hedge funds from taking advantage of poor countries. He raises concern about the impacts of tax havens, tax evasion, trade policies and corruption on vulnerable communities.
"Pope Francis speaks so specifically on the impacts of economic issues because he and his people in Argentina really felt the impacts. He led his people, when he was head of the Argentina Church, as the country wrestled with austerity policies and a debt crisis fueled by corruption and predatory hedge funds taking advantage of that crisis."
New Law Provides Disaster Relief and Medicaid Funds for Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands
"The human suffering in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands continues, so I'm happy Republican and Democratic leadership could agree on disaster relief and healthcare funding for the poor," noted Jubilee USA Director, Eric LeCompte whose organization generated thousands of e-mails and phone calls to Congress ahead of the vote. "The work of Congress is not over yet. The aid package falls short of what the islands need and Congress will need to approve more disaster relief in the months ahead."
The spending bill includes more than $11 billion in recovery aid for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. More than $2 billion will be available to rebuild Puerto Rico's power grid. Moody's rating agency and the US Territory Governments estimate that more than $100 billion is needed to fully fund recovery and rebuilding efforts.
The law also includes money for Puerto Rico's Medicaid program that serves poor populations. Until Congress acted, Puerto Rico's Medicaid funding was weeks away from running out.
"We applaud Congress for moving forward the Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico," said LeCompte. "This program is critical for anti-poverty efforts and will generate billions of dollars for Puerto Rico's economy."
Religious leaders in Puerto Rico and across the United States have advocated for Medicaid financing with Congress and the White House for more than two years.
Government Shutdown Fails Puerto Rico, Economists Call for Debt Relief
January 19, 2018
Government Shutdown Solutions Could Leave Out Disaster Aid for Puerto Rico
Economists Say Island Needs Debt Relief and Rebuilding Funds
Washington DC – As the Senate and White House struggle to avert a government shutdown, US disaster victims from Puerto Rico to Texas worry a deal on relief and recovery aid will continue to be delayed. Moody’s rating agency estimates that Puerto Rico alone needs an upwards of $90 billion in aid to rebuild.
“Congress has failed to deliver recovery and relief aid to millions of US citizens affected by natural disasters in the last year,” stated Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development group, Jubilee USA. “We are really concerned for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The islands were already dealing with high child poverty rates, developing world conditions and financial crises well before the hurricanes struck.”
In the last days of 2017, the US House of Representatives voted for an $81 billion dollar aid package for Texas, Florida, California, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The House Bill fell short of the requests made by the Governors of the affected areas. As of Friday morning, Senators were still trying to negotiate some relief aid funding for Puerto Rico.
“It’s absolutely essential that Congress moves forward a recovery package as soon as possible. Aid must be enough to fully fund Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to rebuild to withstand the next storm,” said LeCompte who met with Republican and Democratic leadership on moving forward a recovery package. Since September, LeCompte’s organization generated thousands of petitions, phone calls and e-mails to Congress and the White House to provide relief for the US Territories through a series of action alerts.
As Congress wrestles with a recovery package for the beleaguered islands, Puerto Rico’s oversight board and Governor are preparing to release a new post hurricane economic plan. Before the hurricanes hit, Puerto Rico was entangled in a congressionally crafted bankruptcy process to deal with $72 billion in debt. The new fiscal plan will state how debt will be dealt with in a post hurricane Puerto Rico.
“The new plan for Puerto Rico must address the devastation caused by the hurricane and the problems that caused the prior deterioration of the economy,” a group of notable economists reflected in an open statement they released on Friday. Signers included: Antonio Weiss, former Counselor to the US Treasury Secretary; Nobel Prize winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz; Simon Johnson, former International Monetary Fund chief economist; Mario Marazzi Santiago of the Puerto Rican Institute of Statistics; former top United Nations adviser, Jeffrey Sachs; Jason Furman, former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers; and Gene Sperling, former director of the National Economic Council.
The economist release entitled, “A Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico,” calls for debt relief and substantial aid for Puerto Rico. The statement comes as Congress, the White House and the Island’s Governor and oversight board make decisions around the fate of the 3.5 million US citizens who call Puerto Rico home.
“The new final fiscal plan cannot allow a penny to be paid for debt until Puerto Rico sees positive economic recovery and is fully funded to be able to rebuild to withstand the next storm,” LeCompte noted. “Beyond the significant debt relief needed, Puerto Rico needs to stop all debt payments for at least five years.”
For nearly two years before the hurricanes struck, religious groups in Puerto Rico and the United States were advocating various solutions to deal with the growing financial crisis and high poverty rates. Shortly before Christmas, religious groups gathered in a Congress building to call for relief and aid. Supporting and participating groups included the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, United Church of Christ, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, Franciscan Action Network, the National Association of Evangelicals, Muslim Public Affairs Council and Islamic Relief.
During the prayer service, Puerto Rico's Archbishop Roberto González Nieves reflected, "Puerto Rico desperately needs a complete debt relief, funding for rebuilding, and equal access to Medicare, Medicaid and child tax benefit funding. [...] Today we pray with the persistence and tenacity of the widow of the gospel; we pray full of hope that the miracle of compassion, openness toward and solidarity with Puerto Rico may come true."
Read the economist statement, “A Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico"
View Jubilee USA’s most recent action alert
###
Contact: Lydia C. Andrews, Deputy Director