| Latest RAN Mailing
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your support of the ongoing struggle of African nations
to break free from illegitimate foreign debts. Over 400 of you signed
the religious leader letter that Africa Action delivered in April
to President George Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow calling
for debt cancellation. We appreciate your renewed commitment to
Africa Action’s Religious Action Network (RAN). For those
of you who did not sign the debt letter, we invite you to renew
your support of RAN by filling out the form that accompanies this
letter.
Today we write to ask you to TAKE ACTION once again because 100%
debt cancellation is AT RISK of falling off the negotiating table
when the leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) rich countries meet
for their annual summit next month. To ensure that our full vision
of debt cancellation is victorious, we must raise the voices of
people of faith calling for justice. Thus we are evoking one of
the traditions of RAN, where religious leaders nationwide have held
Africa Sundays – raising up critical African issues and engaging
their congregations to take action. Please consider hosting an Africa
Sunday on or before June 26th to help us to raise awareness about
the need for debt cancellation. Africa Action humbly offers to provide
you with initial materials you could use to host an Africa Sunday
and these are described in the following pages.
Africa Sundays are simply an opportunity to dedicate one service
to Africa. In this case we invite you to focus on Africa’s
foreign debt and the Jubilee call found in Judeo-Christian scriptures
for debt cancellation and the building of right relationships between
communities and nations. Africa Sundays can be as simple as setting
up a corner dedicated to Africa with postcards or another form of
action for debt cancellation. Often religious leaders will incorporate
the Jubilee teachings into the sermon, and tailor a prayer during
the service to the issue of debt and the need for justice for Africa.
In some cases, congregations have dedicated an entire service to
Africa Sunday and held an educational event during the coffee hour
or a special scripture study session on the moral imperative to
work for justice in Africa. We can provide a bulletin insert, prayers,
music suggestions, liturgy samples, scripture suggestions and sermon
notes to support your Africa Sunday.
The concept of debt cancellation for African nations was long considered
politically infeasible; but it was the voices, predominantly, of
people of faith who demanded justice for Africa. Religious leaders
and their communities have worked tirelessly over the last decade
to draw attention to the injustices of the global economy and to
demand repair of the world. Today, debt cancellation is an imminent
reality as the G-7 wealthy nations and Russia prepare to meet and
discuss African debt in July. Please join us to demand that all
the debts of African and other impoverished nations be canceled
unconditionally. We now have a vital opportunity to achieve freedom
from debt this year.
Despite the fact that the G-7 have acknowledged the need for full
debt cancellation in principle, the leaders of these rich countries
are backsliding on this commitment and have been backing away from
their previous pledges. Now, more than ever, we must be crystal
clear that our demand is for 100% debt cancellation for all African
countries by all international financial institutions without harmful
conditions imposed on their economies. The international financial
institutions (the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
[IMF]) have been collecting – or should we say stealing –
billions of dollars from the most impoverished nations in the world
for years, despite the fact that the debts are largely illegitimate
in the first place, a result of irresponsible lending that did not
serve the interests of the people who now foot the bill. The rich
West made loans for political reasons during the Cold War to prop
up pro-Western governments and dictators in Africa. That money never
went to build schools, clinics or hospitals, but was pocketed by
these allies of the West who were traitors to their own people.
Now the citizens of so many African countries are being forced to
pay back these debts, plus interest, instead of spending their scarce
resources on healthcare or education for their own citizens.
There is a moral imperative, there is a justice imperative, that
these illegitimate debts be canceled. Moreover, people throughout
Africa ask the question “Who really owes whom?” Is it
the poorest region in the world that owes the tiny handful of the
richest countries in the world and their financial institutions?
How did those rich countries become so rich? Was it 500 years of
slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism, and now Global Apartheid
that has made them rich and keeps them rich? Isn’t it these
wealthy countries, like the U.S., that owe Africa?
Please join us by hosting an Africa Sunday on or before June 26th!
If possible, consider asking your membership to take action after
the service. Congregants may be invited to sign postcards, which
we will use during an event we are co-hosting with Jubilee USA Network
at the White House on the 29th of June. Postcards can be ordered
by calling 202-546-7961 or downloaded at www.jubileeusa.org.
If not postcards, feel free to ask your congregation to sign a statement
or resolution on international debt, or simply take a collection
to support Africa Action’s work for justice. For more background
materials on Africa’s illegitimate debt burden and information
on Africa Action visit our website at www.africaaction.org.
Be sure to let us know if you hold an Africa Sunday and what type
of action your congregation takes on this issue. We will report
back to you on the success of this effort and share with you some
of the creative ideas that different churches implemented as part
of this action.
We appreciate your engagement on this initiative and your re-commitment
to Africa Action’s Religious Action Network.
Sincerely,
Marie Clarke Brill
RAN Coordinator & Director for Public Education and Mobilization
News Flash
On June 11, 2005, the Group of Eight (G-8) agreed to the outright
cancellation of the debts of 18 impoverished countries (14 in Africa)
to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and African Development
Bank.
Congratulations for all of your hard work to push for full
debt cancellation for this first set of countries!
They have also agreed that, as other countries complete the Heavily
Indebted Poor Country Initiative (HIPC), they too will receive debt
cancellation. Unfortunately, HIPC includes devastating economic
conditionality that deepens poverty in Africa. HIPC also excludes
many countries in need of debt cancellation, like Nigeria, South
Africa and Morocco.
While this is an initial victory on the path to full and unconditional
debt cancellation for all African nations, we must be clear that
too few countries are included in this plan and that we oppose using
HIPC and HIPC conditionality as a pathway to future cancellation.
We also must continue to assert that Africa’s debts are largely
illegitimate. They are a result of irresponsible loans that have
not benefited the people that must now foot the bill. While wealthy
nations have described Iraq’s debt as illegitimate or “odious”,
they have not applied the same standard to Africa’s debt.
Since this news breaks after we invited you to host an Africa Sunday
on debt, we wanted to offer this quick update. More information
will be available soon on our website or if you contact Marie at
202-546-7961, mclarkebrill@africaaction.org.
We hope you will continue to plan an Africa Sunday on international
debt, both to celebrate this initial victory and to encourage
and inspire your congregation to take further action for debt cancellation.
The debt deal announced last weekend sets an important precedent
for 100% debt cancellation. Now, more than ever, we must be sure
that our leaders know that this commitment is only the beginning,
and that we will keep working for 100% debt cancellation for all
African nations without harmful economic conditions attached.
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Religious Action Network
