Great news from RESULTS!!!
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Hi Folks – so often it can take months, years and even decades to see the results of our advocacy… and sometimes it takes a couple of days.
Following the receipt of the Waters/Ros-Lehtinen letter with 94 signatures – including Financial Services Chair Barney Frank and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer – Secretary Geithner announced today that he will work to eliminate all of Haiti’s debt and provide any further assistance in the form of grants. We were hearing nothing from the White House on its intentions, so this is a huge shift. Most of Haiti’s remaining debt is owed to multilateral institutions like the IMF and IDB, so this doesn’t guarantee that the debt will be cancelled, but having the full support of the U.S. is absolutely critical and a real turning point.
Thanks again for you work on this letter. In thanking your members for signing, you can let them know this had a real impact. The press release from Treasury is pasted below.
Thanks!
Showing posts with label debt cancellation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debt cancellation. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
94 Reps Signed IMF Letter to Cancel Haiti's Debt!
Congratulations: 94 Representatives Signed the House IMF Letter to Cancel Haiti's Debt!
Responding to the urgent humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) are sending a message that Haiti's debt must be cancelled.
Last week the IMF approved an emergency $100 million loan, adding to the $165 million already owed by Haiti to the Fund. Haiti owes an additional $447 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, and tens of millions to other institutions. As an influential member of these multilateral organizations, the U.S. will be critical in ensuring Haiti's debt will be canceled.
Representatives Waters and Ros-Lehtinen have sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging him to work to immediately suspend Haiti's debt payments, cancel any existing or newly incurred debt, and provide further assistance in the form of grants rather than debt-creating loans. Thanks in part to the efforts of RESULTS activists, so far 94 members of Congress have signed this letter, including IL reps Davis, Guiterrez, Jackson Jr, Quigley, Rush, Schakowksy.
We'll be watching to see if this strong message from Congress is heeded by the administration.
Responding to the urgent humanitarian crisis in Haiti, Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) are sending a message that Haiti's debt must be cancelled.
Last week the IMF approved an emergency $100 million loan, adding to the $165 million already owed by Haiti to the Fund. Haiti owes an additional $447 million to the Inter-American Development Bank, and tens of millions to other institutions. As an influential member of these multilateral organizations, the U.S. will be critical in ensuring Haiti's debt will be canceled.
Representatives Waters and Ros-Lehtinen have sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging him to work to immediately suspend Haiti's debt payments, cancel any existing or newly incurred debt, and provide further assistance in the form of grants rather than debt-creating loans. Thanks in part to the efforts of RESULTS activists, so far 94 members of Congress have signed this letter, including IL reps Davis, Guiterrez, Jackson Jr, Quigley, Rush, Schakowksy.
We'll be watching to see if this strong message from Congress is heeded by the administration.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Debt Cancellation Act passes in the House
From Breadblog.org...
Jubilee Act passed in the House!
On April 16th, the House of Representatives passed the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008. This bill pushes the Bush Administration to begin negotiations for an agreement with the IMF, World Bank, and the Paris Club of bilateral creditors to allow up to 24 additional low-income countries to qualify for international debt relief.
Debt cancellation is important because it is a tested and proven tool for releasing resources to fight poverty and injustice. For example, savings from debt cancellation in 2005 have enabled Zambia to hire 4,500 new teachers and eliminate fees for rural health care. Similarly Uganda used its $57.9 million in savings from debt relief in 2006 to invest in energy infrastructure, primary education, malaria control, health care, and water infrastructure. In fact, the bill requires that countries receiving debt relief use their savings for poverty reduction efforts. To ensure accountability, the Jubilee Act also requires countries to
-Foster transparent and participatory policies to achieve poverty reduction through economic growth;
-Ensure sound budget procedures, good governance, and effective anti-corruption measures; and
-Produce and disclose to the public an annual report disclosing how the savings from debt cancellation will be used.
The bill also includes measures that ensures that countries benefiting from debt cancellation will not fall back into unsustainable debt.
In addition to being a useful tool for reducing global poverty, debt cancellation is also important because of the unfair ways by which debt has accumulated for most countries. According to the Jubilee USA Network, debt:
-Is already paid - nations have already paid back their debts time and again. Debt continues to accumulate only because of skyrocketing interest rates and compound interests making repayment impossible. For example, from 1970-2002, Africa received some $540 billion in loans and paid back $550 billion in principal and interest. Yet Africa remains today with a debt stock of $295 billion.
-Hurts the poor - Loans are given with conditions that require countries to limit government spending. This leads to a reduction in spending on essential human services, like primary health and education, and access to safe water.
-Isn't really owed - Much of the debt is a result of "bad faith" lending including: the practice of pushing loans on developing nations because banks had too much money and had to lend it, knowingly lending to corrupt governments for political purposes, and lending with conditions ensuring profits return to the creditors.
Thanks to your advocacy efforts, the Jubilee Act passed the House on April 16 by a vote of 285 to 132. But it's not over yet! For the bill to become law, it must pass the Senate! To find out more information on how to call your state senator, visit: Jubilee USA Network
Jubilee Act passed in the House!
On April 16th, the House of Representatives passed the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation of 2008. This bill pushes the Bush Administration to begin negotiations for an agreement with the IMF, World Bank, and the Paris Club of bilateral creditors to allow up to 24 additional low-income countries to qualify for international debt relief.
Debt cancellation is important because it is a tested and proven tool for releasing resources to fight poverty and injustice. For example, savings from debt cancellation in 2005 have enabled Zambia to hire 4,500 new teachers and eliminate fees for rural health care. Similarly Uganda used its $57.9 million in savings from debt relief in 2006 to invest in energy infrastructure, primary education, malaria control, health care, and water infrastructure. In fact, the bill requires that countries receiving debt relief use their savings for poverty reduction efforts. To ensure accountability, the Jubilee Act also requires countries to
-Foster transparent and participatory policies to achieve poverty reduction through economic growth;
-Ensure sound budget procedures, good governance, and effective anti-corruption measures; and
-Produce and disclose to the public an annual report disclosing how the savings from debt cancellation will be used.
The bill also includes measures that ensures that countries benefiting from debt cancellation will not fall back into unsustainable debt.
In addition to being a useful tool for reducing global poverty, debt cancellation is also important because of the unfair ways by which debt has accumulated for most countries. According to the Jubilee USA Network, debt:
-Is already paid - nations have already paid back their debts time and again. Debt continues to accumulate only because of skyrocketing interest rates and compound interests making repayment impossible. For example, from 1970-2002, Africa received some $540 billion in loans and paid back $550 billion in principal and interest. Yet Africa remains today with a debt stock of $295 billion.
-Hurts the poor - Loans are given with conditions that require countries to limit government spending. This leads to a reduction in spending on essential human services, like primary health and education, and access to safe water.
-Isn't really owed - Much of the debt is a result of "bad faith" lending including: the practice of pushing loans on developing nations because banks had too much money and had to lend it, knowingly lending to corrupt governments for political purposes, and lending with conditions ensuring profits return to the creditors.
Thanks to your advocacy efforts, the Jubilee Act passed the House on April 16 by a vote of 285 to 132. But it's not over yet! For the bill to become law, it must pass the Senate! To find out more information on how to call your state senator, visit: Jubilee USA Network
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