Vol 3/2
March
1998
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Jubilee 2000
A debt-free start for a billion people
Jubilee 2000 is a call to the richer nations, banks and international lenders to allow the World's poorest countries to begin the new millennium free from the burden of unsustainable debt.Why Jubilee?According to the book of Leviticus 25: 8-55, God's people were to celebrate Jubilee every 50 years. The Jubilee was not just an excuse for a party. It was about changing the relationships between rich and poor by requiring large landholders to restore their lands and homes to people who had lost them. The Jubilee Year went one step further than the Sabbatical Year when creditors were required to forgive debts and when slave-holders were required to let their slaves go free. What better spirit in which to approach the next millennium when our suffering world so desperately needs a new start? |
Who is behind Jubilee 2000?
Jubilee 2000 was launched in April 1996 by Christian Aid, Tear Fund and CAFOD.
It has since received endorsement from dozens of Christian organisations including the General Synod of the Church of England, the General Assembly of the Baptist Church, the Methodist Council, the United Reformed Church, Quaker Peace and Service, the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland, the National Black Alliance, Evangelical Christians for Racial Justice, USPG, and World Vision
And we're not alone!
It is not just Christians who are calling for richer countries and international lending institutions to do something about international debt.
The Reform Synagogues of Great Britain have also lent their support and similar campaigns have taken off in more than 20 countries.
What about the Lenders?
Even the lenders have recognised the need for debt relief:
Individual governments:
As early as 1988 the "Paris Club" has been seeking to agree measures for reducing this kind of debt.
Banks and private landers:
In 1989 the "Brady Plan" attempted to offer some relief form this kind of debt.
Multilateral finance bodies.
In 1996 the World Bank and the IMF agreed HIPC (a scheme for reducing the debts owed them by "Highly Indebted Poor Countries").
These initiatives are signs of the widely recognised need for action to reduce debt. But they are also signs of the weakness of commitment on the part of creditors. The initiatives are too little, too late and too slow. It is the Jubilee 2000 campaign - initiated by Christians - which is ensuring that lenders, and the public at large, are aware of the true scale of the initiative that is needed and of the urgency for action.
Is Jubilee 2000 asking the impossible?
The Jubilee 2000 campaign is not asking that all debt be cancelled by the year 2000. It is asking for:
- complete cancellation of debt only for those countries whose income per person is less than $700 per year.
- partial cancellation of debt for countries whose income per person is between $700 and $2,000 per year.
But...wouldn't cancelling debt encourage irresponsible borrowing?
The real irresponsibility has so far been with the lenders.
Western governments made huge loans to prop up often corrupt allies and to fund military expenditure. And, private lenders took advantage of the "moral hazard" arising from the fact that that they couldn't lose because even if borrowers defaulted, multilateral governmental bodies would step in to make up the difference.
Jubilee 2000 seeks to ensure that debt relief will benefit the poor and will not be used to support corruption, inefficiency or systematic violations of human rights.
more...on Jubilee 2000
The full
printed edition of the 'Bridge' newspaper is available at
all Southwark Parish Churches
Further copies can be obtained from wendy.s.robins@southwark.anglican.org
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