Friends of the Earth Birmingham Action Briefing Aug 98/Sep 98

Jubilee 2000 - Third World Debt

Remember the G8 Summit in Birmingham when 70,000 people formed a human chain around the ICC and Birmingham City Centre last May? Well FOE are continuing to support the Jubilee 2000 campaign to get debt reduced to help people living in the Third World have an improved quality of life.

Examples of Why the debt needs to be cancelled

• The UN estimates that the lives of 21 million children could be saved by the year 2000 if money from debt repayments was put back into health, clean water and sanitation
• For every £1 that wealthy countries give in aid to poor countries, they take back £3 in interest on debts
• Africa spends four times as much paying interest on its debts as it spends on healthcare
• Life ends at 40 for one in three Africans
• 41% of African children under five are so malnourished their growth is stunted
• Zambia spends five times as much paying interest on its debts as it spends on education etc. etc.

Why should Britain help the Third World?

Because Britain, with the other nations comprising the G8, own and have the voting rights in the World Bank and IMF to which most of the money is owed. In turn the World Bank and IMF have been responsible for irresponsible lending to corrupt dictators and governments and for ill advised projects. Similarly, imposing different economic policies as conditions for loans has frequently exacerbated the problem leading to government cutbacks in health and education.

What will it cost to cancel these debts?

Christian Aid estimates that the global cost of debt relief needed to attain the OECD target for halving poverty by the year 2015 in 52 of the poorest and most heavily indebted countries will be in the region of £100 bn ($165bn).

Britain’s share of this global £100 bn cost would be around £2.5 bn – or just over £40 for every person. This is little more than the proposed cost of two tickets to the Millennium Dome. In total it equates to about one tenth of Britain’s defence budget and less than the £3.1 bn spent on National Lottery instants since their launch. Similarly it is about one fifth of the £12 bn spent on cigarettes every year. Much of the debt due to the UK is owed to the Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) and banks, all of whom have already made provisons toward, and received tax concessions for, some of these debts. The financial impact on the British public would not be significant as a result if these debts were written off.

What is Birmingham FOE doing to help the campaign?

Jayne Dutton, Andy Medley and I have been very active giving talks to schools, colleges, professional organisations and community groups about the problems. These presentations are proving very successful and by using a combination of video, slides, quizzes and workshops they can be tailored to suit all organisations.

Would you like to help?

Phone me at home (01562 710236) if you would like FOE to talk to your organisation.

If you would like to help Jubilee 2000 directly please contact Audrey Miller tel. no. 0121 471 4175 or for the computer enthusiasts: members.AOL.COM./J2000mid/index.HTML.

Paul Webb