Debt

Vulture fund update

Feb 1st, 2012 1:13 PM UTC
By Claire Hazelgrove

We’ve been campaigning alongside the Jubilee Debt Campaign to see an end to vulture funds using Jersey’s courts to prey on poor countries for old debt. And last night Senator Ian Gorst, Jersey’s Chief Minister, announced plans to do so by introducing a law against vulture funds, as made permanent in the UK last year.

Over 26,000 of you in the UK signed our petition calling for this to happen. Very rarely are issues without grey areas, but companies just shouldn’t be able to behave in this way, and stop the poorest of countries getting back on their feet. And that’s what we’ve said as ONE to Jersey’s Chief Minister – and we’ve been heard.

In announcing these new plans, Senator Gorst said that:

“This demonstrates Jersey’s commitment to play its part in the global effort to support measures which assist the world’s most heavily indebted poor countries.”

We hope this means that the law will be introduced imminently, so countries like the DRC have a chance to stand up against these vultures. We may well still have more to do, and will keep you updated on Jersey’s promise, but for now, thank you for helping right this wrong.

Don’t feed the vultures

Nov 16th, 2011 6:35 PM UTC
By Claire Hazelgrove

Campaigners like you have fought against the unfair debts that crippled some of the world’s poorest countries. We rightly celebrated when debt relief helped lift some of this burden.

Now that progress is under threat.

Vulture funds make money by buying up old debt against developing countries, and using the courts to sue them for it in order to reap massive profits. That’s just wrong.

The problem is, that while the vulture funds law brought in the UK last year finally stopped this activity happening here, this doesn’t currently extend to Jersey.

Sign up now to ask the Chief Minister of Jersey to extend the UK law to their courts too.

Right now, vulture fund FG Hemisphere is using Jersey’s courts to claim $100m from the Democratic Republic of Congo, on a debt thought to have been bought for $3.3m.

After having much of their debt cancelled by the IMF and World Bank just last year, the impact that this will have on the DRC, and people living in extreme poverty, is just unimaginable. This shouldn’t be happening – let alone so close to home.

Join ONE and the Jubilee Debt Campaign UK in asking Jersey’s Chief Minister to take a stand, by extending the law that already exists here in the UK.  It’s simply not right to turn a blind eye.

Thanks for your support on this, and please ask your friends to sign up too.

Thank you from Pakistan

Dec 10th, 2010 5:00 PM UTC
By Abdul Khaliq Shah

I work for the aid agency Oxfam in Pakistan, helping with the response to the recent catastrophic floods in my country this year. I want to say thank you for signing ONE’s petition calling for Pakistan’s debts to be frozen and tell you why this was important.

The floods were unprecedented, having an even worse impact than the Tsunami: covering one fifth of the entire country, and affecting over 20 million people, the majority of whom are poor rural communities, already living below the poverty line. Through my work I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impact the catastrophe has had on so many. Initially this involved helping communities to access clean water, food, medicines and shelter, but we will be working hard for months and probably years to come to help flood-hit people fully recover.

While Pakistan is in desperate need of resources, it is being pushed by lenders to continue paying its foreign debt, ignoring the urgent needs of millions of people in distress. Pakistani civil society has been constantly urging lender governments and international institutions to provide much needed debt relief to Pakistan, so that it is able to help the millions of people desperately in need.

This is where your voice has helped achieve an important step.  We presented the joint petition signed by over 200,000 people at a vital meeting of the countries who are responding to the crisis.   It sent a clear message that they should ensure Pakistan has as much of its own resources as possible to spend on the long term rebuilding work to help those affected.

This call for action has helped to get the issue firmly on the international agenda – a vital start.  What’s needed next is for the Pakistan Government to make it clear that resources freed up through debt relief will directly benefit those affected by the disaster, and donor countries to insist this happens as part of any support they give.  Oxfam and local organisations will be campaigning strongly on this in Pakistan and joining with organisations like ONE to keep pressuring governments around the world.

Thank you again for your support.

Abdul Khaliq Shah
Policy & Advocacy Officer
Oxfam

200,000 voices for Pakistan

Nov 19th, 2010 11:30 AM UTC
By Stuart McWilliam

This week ONE was part of a campaign coalition that delivered a petition signed by over 200,000 people (including more than 60,000 ONE members) calling for Pakistan’s debt to be frozen. This sent a strong message from members of ONE and our campaign partners Oxfam, Avaaz and Jubilee Debt Coalition, that rich countries should ensure Pakistan has as much of its own resources possible to spend on reconstruction after the devastating floods earlier this year.

The 202,381 person strong petition was delivered at the Pakistan Development Forum in Islamabad, a meeting of countries who provide aid to Pakistan, where the issue of debt and long term poverty reduction was being discussed. Stephen Engelken, a senior US Diplomat in Pakistan, received the petition and passed our message on to representatives from other countries and the IMF (the international institution which oversees countries’ debt).

The current position of these countries is that they aren’t prepared to freeze or help with the debt until Pakistan’s Government makes it clear it will spend the money to help those affected by the floods. However they are leaving the door open for a positive decision in the near future.

Two things need to happen next: the Pakistan Government should establish a clear and publicly transparent fund, demonstrating how debt money will be spent on reconstruction and helping those that have been affected, and showing how it will account for this. And rich countries need to make clear that resources freed up by help with Pakistan’s debt support is used to assist those affected by the floods, in an open, transparent way with clear monitoring. Campaigners in Pakistan and around the world will continue to put pressure on both sets of Governments to do this.

One last push for Pakistan

Nov 9th, 2010 5:21 PM UTC
By Weldon Kennedy

Pakistan is still reeling from the massive floods earlier this year, but there is a very simple thing we can all do to help: push for a freeze on Pakistan’s debt payments.

For the last couple of months, we’ve been advocating for a freeze that would enable Pakistan to spend more of its resources over next two years on rebuilding. If you’re not one of the 55,000 + people who have signed the petition, please do so because at the end of this week, we’re joining Avaaz, Jubilee Debt Coalition, and Oxfam to deliver the petition at an important meeting of world leaders in Pakistan who will be discussing how to help the country rebuild.

This delivery will come on the heels of the Senate of Pakistan issuing a call last week for a reprieve from debt payments – so it couldn’t come at a better time. It also comes at a time where the slow pace of recovery is starting to sting as there have been outbreaks of dengue fever and cholera among flood victims.

For a bit of a reminder why Pakistan needs this reprieve, I highly recommend taking a look at two sets of photos put together by the Big Picture blog (here and here) capturing a sense of the scale of devastation.

While you’re having a look at those pictures, also keep this map from the BBC in mind to understand just how much of the country was impacted by these floods. To me it makes it clear as can be that we must do what we can to help in the face of such a challenge.

Pakistan flood response

Sep 8th, 2010 5:28 PM UTC
By Michael Healy

Since the reports first reached our TV screens of the floods in Pakistan the public response to the disaster has been phenomenal, with the UK public alone raising over £47 million for the aid appeal.

The situation in Pakistan is dire: More than 20 million people have been displaced by the flooding, a fifth of the country is now under water, and more than 2 million acres of crops have been destroyed. Thousands of people have lost their lives and millions more have lost their homes, whilst severe threats of water-borne diseases and malnutrition are putting survivors of the initial floods at further risk. And all this in a country where 60% of the population were already living below the poverty line.

In order to recover from this destruction Pakistan will need all the help it can get.

On Saturday ONE launched a petition calling on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to freeze Pakistan’s debt and we have already received over 20,000 signatures! This is fantastic and we are now over halfway to our new target of 40,000.

Since its launch the petition has received the backing of major aid organisations – Islamic Relief and Muslim Aid – and Members of Parliament from the major political parties here in the UK, Labour’s Sadiq Khan, Liberal Democrat Tim Farron and the Conservative’s Andrew Stephenson.

A spokesperson for Muslim Aid said:

“It is a collective responsibility for all Governments and financial institutions around the world to ease the pressure on Pakistan during this crisis. It will help Pakistan to reduce the debt burden whilst it continues to endure unspeakable suffering. 20 million people are without food, water, shelter and a basic education; the focus must remain on rehabilitation in Pakistan for not just the short but long term future.”

Islamic Relief UK Director Jehangir Malik said:

“Islamic Relief have been delivering emergency assistance to people affected on the ground at Pakistan, but this recovery effort will last years and needs maximum available resources. ONE’s campaign to ease Pakistan’s debt burden is a vital part of this. We are urging our supporters to sign this petition and send a strong message to the IMF”.

Thank you to all ONE members who have signed the petition so far. If you haven’t yet signed please do so. And if you have, please pass it onto your friends and family. Every extra name really does make a difference.

Help Freeze Pakistan’s Debt

Sep 6th, 2010 12:06 PM UTC
By Kalim Patwa

I’m sure like me you’ve been saddened to see the unprecedented floods in Pakistan, and I’m sure you are keen to find a way to help.

The sheer scale of the disaster is staggering, with reports suggesting that 20 million people have been affected. This is doubly devastating in a country where 60% of the population was already living below the poverty line.

Pakistan will need all its available resources to help it recover from this crippling crisis and to fight long-term poverty. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) – the institution that oversees debt repayments – can play a key role in this. It is currently considering ways in which Pakistan’s debt can be eased, and how to make sure the money is effectively used to help people affected.

Please ask the IMF to freeze Pakistan’s debt repayments for the next 2 years. Sign our petition to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the IMF.

Petition text:

Please help freeze Pakistan’s debt to ensure the country’s poorest people are able to recover from the devastating floods.

Early this year ONE members helped to get Haiti’s debt cancelled after the earthquake. We can now make a difference for the people of Pakistan giving them the greatest possible help to recover from this devastating disaster.

Click here to sign the petition

Debt Relief for Liberia

Jul 15th, 2010 5:34 PM UTC
By Edith Jibunoh

A couple weeks ago we announced the great news that Liberia had reached Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion point. For countries with a lot of international debt, the HIPC process offers a means to debt cancellation from multilateral organizations by undertaking major and difficult reforms to improve country economic and financial systems.

Liberia started the HIPC process two years ago with US$4.9 billion in debt, and potential annual repayments that overshadowed their entire annual budgets! Throughout the period of Liberia’s civil war and the resulting crisis, loans were not serviced and interest and penalties accumulated. By reaching completion point, Liberia has passed the 12 triggers stipulated by the World Bank and the IMF and today, Liberia has had $4.6 billion of their multilateral debt has been cancelled.

This action is a recognition of the tremendous efforts taken to transform Liberia, under the leadership of President Johnson-Sirleaf, and is an endorsement of the progress made in public financial management, debt management, governance, social service provision and the implementation of a poverty reduction strategy.

This decision now opens up more fiscal space for Liberia, allowing them the opportunity to embark on more development programs that will help expand the economy whilst continuing to tackle poverty. It also paves the way for additional debt relief. Liberia still has a way to go before we can declare victory. The Paris club, which holds Liberia’s bilateral debt, includes wealthy countries that meet under the Chairmanship of the French Ministry of Finance. Their next meeting is in September and the HIPC completion news certainly positions Liberia to make the best case possible.

On the ground in Haiti

Jul 13th, 2010 1:54 PM UTC
By Jo Barrett

As part of our brief series looking at Haiti 6 months on from the terrible earthquake that struck the country, we hear from Jo Barrett, Media Officer at Progressio, an international development agency that is working in Haiti and the Dominican Republic to help local communities ensure their voices are heard in the reconstruction process.

At first I didn’t know what was happening. I thought the t-shirt clad workers were simply taking a break from the gruelling task of shovelling heavy piles of rubble into buckets.

But then, one by one, they lowered their face masks and clambered down from the crippled, twisted remains of what was once a 4 storey building.

Almost 6 months after Haiti’s devastasting earthquake, I hadn’t imagined people would still be pulling human remains from the rubble. But they are.

“It’s a body”, one man told me. “They have found someone up there”, he said, pointing to a spot somewhere in the clumsy mass of concrete, steel and earth.

In Port au Prince, the devastated capital of the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation, it seems the grim reality of what happened on January 12 just won’t go away: as Haitians will tell you, every aspect of life here has been altered by “le douze”.

Take the sprawling camps. Even after 6 months, hundreds of thousands of people are still living under canvas. Entire families squeeze into tiny, baking-hot tents with barely enough room to lie down. There is little food, or water, or light.

And, slowly but surely, people are getting frustrated. “It’s extremely difficult living in the camp and there are lots of problems”, Coq Michelet Staël, an engineer, tells me as he tries to fix his tent up in St Louis Gonzague camp in central Port au Prince.

“We havent’t had much aid. There are days when we find food and water, but other days we don’t”, he adds.

But complaints about basic services quickly spiral into expressions of disappointment with the government. In neighbouring Henfrasa camp, Noel Fanes, also a student, lays the blame squarely with the country’s leaders.

“We have organised ourselves”, he says. “Nobody from the government has ever visited us, not even the mayor. It’s a way of hiding from their responsibilities so they don’t have to face up to what is happening”.

There is no doubt that people here feel they have had to go it alone.

Though the situation is complex, and though millions of dollars in aid have been pledged to help Haiti, I can’t help but feel Coq and Noel, and thousands more like them, deserve so much better.

Haiti’s Debt: 6 months on

Jul 12th, 2010 9:36 AM UTC
By Brie O'Keefe

Back in January more the 200,000 ONE members signed our petition to cancel Haiti’s external debt and help the country rebuild from the terrible earthquake that struck on 12 January.

6 months on we thought it would be useful to report back on what happened next.

At the handover of the petition during the G7 finance ministers summit in the small Arctic Canadian town of Iqaluit (the first ONE petition to be delivered above the Arctic Circle!) we welcomed the news that the G7 had agreed to support debt relief.

According to our friends at the Jubilee Debt Campaign Venezuela cancelled $295 million of debts at the end of January, while at the end of March the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank together forgave a combined total of $472 million.

That leaves Haiti’s only outstanding debts at the moment being held by Taiwan and the IMF. Taiwan is difficult as many of these debts are held by commercial creditors who are unwilling to forgive them. The IMF, however, is currently working on a process to cancel Haiti’s remaining debts, though this hasn’t happened as yet.

The process of rebuilding Haiti will be a long one, but as ONE members we can celebrate the fact that a country facing so many obstacles on the road to recovery has, at least, one less injustice to face: Haitians will no longer be saddled with the debts accumulated by previous governments.