Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. —Isaiah 58:6 & 10 (NRSV)
The G-8 Summit concluded today with an agreement to provide $50 billion in debt relief and other aid to some African nations. Jubilee USA Network reports the package is welcomed by debt relief advocates but does not go far enough. The group has issued a report outlining both the successes and limitations of the G-8 decisions:
Debt Cancellation Will Save Lives. The agreement, in addition to setting the important precedent of 100% debt cancellation for some nations to some creditors, will release close to $1 billion annually in resources poor nations can use for development. Already the Zambian government has said it will use debt relief proceeds to provide Anti-Retroviral drugs to 100,000 HIV/AIDS patients;
The G-8 Plan Includes Too Few Countries. The 18 countries that qualify immediately represent less than a third of countries (at least 62) that need full cancellation to meet the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to halve extreme poverty by 2015. The $40 billion to be cancelled by this agreement represents less than 10% of debt cancellation required for nations to meet the MDGs. The plan does not include middle-income countries that are heavily indebted and impoverished. The African Union called earlier this week for all African nations to receive debt cancellation; the G-8 agreement applies to only 14.
The G-8 Plan Contains Onerous Conditions. The economic policies mandated by the HIPC Initiative will continue under the G-8 debt agreement, including privatization of government-run services and industries, increased trade liberalization, and budgetary spending restrictions. These policies have not been proven to increase per capita income growth or reduce poverty as documented by both World Bank and civil society economists. Jubilee USA and social movements call for these conditions and policies to be abandoned.
Click here to read the full statement from Jubilee USA Network.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed for additional debt relief and aid but was opposed by the US President George W. Bush.
Bread for the World issued a statement today saying that the “G-8 decisions give powerful support to what Africans are doing to overcome hunger, poverty and disease. These pledges are an investment in justice and peace.”
However, they also note that even the funding needed for the debt relief supported by the president is not contained in his budget.
The next step is for President Bush to come home and work with Congress to make his promises a reality. More than a fourth of the president's promised doubling of aid to Africa is in his budget request for next year. But the Senate Appropriations Committee has already voted to cut 60 percent of this increase; the House has voted to cut virtually all of it. The president's party controls both houses of Congress, and he needs to insist that they keep the promises the United States has made.
An Alliance to End Hunger poll last week showed that U.S. voters support President Bush's G-8 commitment to Africa and want Congress to back him up. More than 81 percent of likely voters agree, "It is important for Congress to approve funding for President Bush's budget that would increase money to reduce hunger, poverty and disease and strengthen U.S. security." (www.alliancetoendhunger.org)
Concerned citizens should write their members of Congress in support of keeping our promises to Africa. They should also urge their members of Congress to put themselves on record on this issue by cosponsoring the Millennium Development Goals bill (H. Con. Res. 172; S. 1315).
Our country has promised to help some of the poorest people in the world and we need to live up to our promises.
The steps made by the G-8 leaders are clearly important and move the world in the right direction. But we must acknowledge that these are first steps and that fundamental economic change must happen on a global scale for the world to see a real reduction in poverty.
Related Post: Micah 6:1-8: A Sermon For Jubilee Sunday