Associated Press Newswires
GENOA, Italy, July 20 (AScribe News) -- As Bush arrived in this port city for today's G-8 meeting, Jubilee USA Network members were on hand to greet him.
"The Bush Administration, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has no problem coming up with new initiatives, at least on paper. The problem is completing them," said Bill Ferguson, co-chair of Jubilee USA Network, in Genoa, a coalition of over 60 religious, labor, and health groups, including the AFL-CIO, United Methodist Church, many Catholic orders and Health GAP Coalition, working to cancel third-world debt.
"The G-8 initiative promises of real debt relief are looking more and more empty," added Ferguson. "Each week, more than $250 million flows out of Africa in debt service repayments. Meanwhile the G-8's total contribution to the global AIDS fund is less than a month's worth of debt service repayments for Africa."
Bush frames the meeting as being about poverty reduction, but is making no real proposals to address this issue. "Grants, rather than loans, would be a step forward, but the grants must not be provided with the typical conditionalities applied by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, such as "user fees" that charge the poor for water and health care, pushing them out of the reach of the poor. Bush says he would like to lower poverty through greater economic growth, but experience has shown that relying on markets and trade alone has not worked," stated Ferguson.
Members of the US Congress, including from Bush's own political party, have joined the call to provide real debt cancellation.
"The Jubilee USA Network will be an enthusiastic participant in Saturday's historic march and rally for debt cancellation. Our work continues long past the G-8 meeting in Genoa, and our allies in Congress have initiatives that will have an impact on the President and US policy. The coming months will be critical in this fight," commented Ferguson.
Grassroots activists across the US, including people of faith and conscience, have generated thousands of letters and calls to Bush appealing for debt cancellation. The rock group U2, whose lead singer Bono supports Drop the Debt, invited Jubilee USA activists to organize concert-goers during their US tour to write the President, resulting in thousands of messages from across the US. Over thirty healthcare, AIDS and religious groups, including the American Public Health Association, recently joined the appeal to drop the debt in order to free up funds to fight AIDS.
Jubilee USA Network, formerly Jubilee 2000 USA, is the ongoing US wing of the international Jubilee movement to cancel the debt of the Global South. More than sixty-five Jubilee country campaigns are continuing the movement to drop the debt without structural adjustment and with full involvement of civil societies. Jubilee USA Network is made up of more than sixty faith-based and non-governmental organizations.
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Media Contact: Bill Ferguson or David Bryden, Genoa, 39-335-7264-929
Mara Vanderslice, Washington, DC, 202-783-0129
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