First Jubilee international conference backs broader debt cancellation and opposes creditor-set conditions

 

The first international conference of Jubilee 2000 drew 38 national movements and 12 international organisations to Rome on 15-17 November. It was the first time so many of the campaigners had met together and they mapped out a joint campaign strategy to press for the cancellation of unpayable debt by the year 2000.

The conference deepened and amplified the Jubilee 2000 commitment on three issues: what debt should be cancelled, how conditions should be set, and the role of arbitration in debt cancellations.

Five documents were approved:

• A Jubilee call for debt cancellation and economic justice

  Llamamiento del Jubileo para la cancelacion de la deuda y para la justicia economica ESPAÑOL
  Un appel au Jubilé pour l'annulation des dettes et la justice économique FRANÇAIS

• Jubilee 2000 International Campaigning Statement
• Declaration in support of the Southern African Apartheid Debt Campaign
• International appeal (Honduras and Nicaragua)
• Llamamiento Internacional (Honduras y Nicaragua) ESPAÑOL

 

The conference rejected current debt relief mechanisms such as the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) Initiative.

The conference united in the call to cancel the following debt:

• Debt that cannot be serviced without placing a burden on impoverished people,

• Debt already paid in real terms,

• Debt for improperly designed policies and projects,

• Odious debt and debt incurred by repressive regimes,

• Apartheid debt of South Africa and apartheid-caused debt of neighbouring states, and

• Total debt of Honduras and Nicaragua, because of devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch.

The conference took a strong stand on conditionality, reflecting a general rejection of structural adjustment and other conditions imposed by creditors. It said creditors should not be able to set conditions for debt cancellation, and said that civil society in the south must play a major role in defining and then monitoring the use of any funds released by debt cancellation.

Finally, the conference gave its backing to international arbitration as a way of resolving debt crises

There was insufficient time at the conference to resolve all outstanding policy discussions, but the conference did produce a further Rome Jubilee 2000 Policy Discussion paper which gives more detail on some of the debates which took place.