Debt activists seek to build on 2000 success - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 19, 2001

One of the most remarkable stories of the Jubilee year 2000 was the success of the global campaign to cancel the debt of the world's poorest countries.

What happened by the end of 2000 in dollars and cents is pretty simple: From almost no debt relief five years earlier, the world's rich nations and multilateral financial institutions have now agreed to write off roughly $110 billion, or about one-third, of the external debt owed by heavily indebted poor countries.

"This campaign has come further than many dreams possible," said Daniel P. Driscoll-Shaw, national coordinator of Jubilee 2000 USA.

Policy changes in the world's most powerful nations and institutions as a result of the humanitarian and religious campaign will give a billion of the world's poorest people a better chance at life. On average, the 30 or more countries that will benefit will have to spend about 30 percent less per year on debt service.

But that's only past of the story.

The successes have created a new global dynamic, calling for shifts in strategy and focus.

The beneficiary countries will have to devote the savings from reduced debt payments to such things as health, education and poverty reduction. That's a major shift in focus from the previously imposed conditions of debt relief, which often encouraged or even forced governments of debtor nations to slash their health and education budgets.

In addition, the countries receiving relief will be required to establish open processes of decision-making for allocating debt-reduction benefits. The policy shift is designed in part to break through the secrecy that has often served to hide official corruption in impoverished countries.

Since the Jubilee 2000 campaign began in 1996, the United States has moved from one of the biggest opponents of large-scale debt relief to a leading advocate. Political leaders have credited the persistence of religious leaders with breaking down their resistance.

In the political debates, Pope John Paul II was one of the most frequently quoted figures. As far back as 1994 he began to urge cancellation or substantial reduction of poor nations' debts in 2000 as a justice-restoring global act of jubilee.

Despite what many would view as a series of amazing victories for debt relief against overwhelming odds, the Jubilee 2000 campaigners are far from satisfied with the results so far.

Their goal was complete cancellation of the external debts of the world's worst-off nations by the year 2000.

"We have not nearly achieved all we set out to do," said Ann Pettifor, director of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition of the United Kingdom. "The bulk of the unpayable debts are still in place.... We have yet to achieve real justice for a billion people."

Driscoll-Shaw told Catholic News Service that the steering committee of Jubilee 2000 USA started in September to plan its transition to a post-Jubilee organization. He said the transition team hopes to have a news structure established by the end of February.

Although the Jubilee year is over, he said Jubilee groups around the world "are pushing forward with more energy than ever." Many of the national groups plan to retain Jubilee in their names, while dropping the "2000" tag, he said

Dozens of international aid and human rights agencies have joined forces with One World to launch a new global Internet portal linking the local campaigns and organizations around the world through the Web site www.debtchannel.org

The new portal is edited at the One World Africa headquarters in Zambia, a country suffering severely from an external debt of $7 billion -- more than double its annual gross national product.

Making an indebted country in the South the world communications hub for the movement reflects another of the movement's major achievements: activation of local networks within the world's deeply indebted countries. The networks are aimed at making governments accountable.

One World itself -- www.oneworld.org -- is a Web site devoted to development and human rights.

The debt relief movement still faces many challenges with the decision-makers in the rich nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. But as poor countries move into debt relief, much of the work of the movements within those countries will be devoted to local advocacy and monitoring, to assure that benefits reach the people.