The Jubilee 2000 USA Campaign is part of a worldwide movement to cancel the crushing international debt of impoverished countries by the new millennium. Its platform states that "much of the debt they carry is the result of ill-conceived development projects and flawed policies that creditors pushed upon them. Much of the debt benefitted elites in borrowing countries, whereas the burden of paying the debt is falling upon the poorest members of society, who had no role in contracting the debt in the first place." Jubilee 2000 calls upon the leaders of the richest countries, the commercial banks, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other international financial institutions to write off these debts.

Obtain the education packet for $5 from Jubilee 2000/USA, P.O. Box 29550, Washington, DC 20017. 202 783-3566. coord@J2000USA.org Website: www.oneworld.org/jubilee2000/

Center of Concern

For over 25 years the Center of Concern (COC) in Washington, DC, has brought Catholic social teaching to the tasks of social analysis, theological reflection, policy advocacy and public education. Its issues are global development, domestic/global links, and just international finance and trade. COC is an indispensable resource for Catholics trying to put justice into the Jubilee. The December issue of Center Focus, bi-monthly newsletter of COC, is entirely devoted to Jubilee justice, with articles on U.S. economic policy, the World Food Summit, socially responsible investment, and Third World Debt.

COC is part of the Religious Working Group on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- some 40 Catholic and Protestant organizations which collaborate on debt relief issues, and together launched Jubilee 2000 USA in Denver in June, 1997 during the Economic Summit of the Group of 8 Governments. As such, COC has a technical grasp of the "Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative" begun in 1996 by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- a scheme to give debt relief to the world's most destitute nations. But COC wants it to go farther. As presently set up, the HIPC Initiative may only help 12 of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, those with a debt-to-export ratio above 250 percent. COC wants the major shareholder governments in the World Bank and IMF to interpret HIPC in the most generous way possible. It also wants the ratios calculated after a country meets the basic needs of its poorest citizens. Money for subsistence food, health care and social services should not be diverted to repaying a nation's debt.
Center of Concern, 3700 13th St., NE, Washington DC 20017 202 635-2757
coc@igc.apc.org Website: www.coc.org/coc/

Los Angeles archdiocese

Through its Justice and Peace Commission, the Los Angeles archdiocese under Cardinal Roger Mahony is campaigning for forgiveness of Third World Debt. Besides getting people to circulate the Jubilee 2000 USA petition, the commission has held a forum with the president of the World Bank, conducted seminars, lobbied elected officials, and publicized the issue. Mahony and commission leaders are traveling to Honduras, designated by the World Bank as a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC), meeting with the archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and seeing first hand the effects of the debt on the poor. The Los Angeles efforts could easily be imitated in other dioceses: L.A. sends its newsletter to Roundtable members nationwide, and posts a wealth of information on its web site.
Web Site: www.la-archdiocese.org Call the commission at 213 637-7550.

The Virtual Mall

Does your shopping promote sweatshop labor or environmental degradation? The Center of Concern's website on the Internet (address above) features an alternative shopping mall, with information on fair trade organizations across the U.S. and Canada, on the labor and environmental track record of major manufacturers, and on action campaigns to promote just standards for corporations worldwide.

Africa: Seeds of Hope

The 1998 Offering of Letters by Bread for the World is focused on making U.S. trade, investment and aid benefit poor African farmers (who are mostly women) and struggling rural communities. As in 1997, CTA again plans to sign on as a co-sponsor, along with Church World Services (National Council of Churches), Catholic Relief Services, and Oxfam, and many other interfaith partners. The 1998 BFW national lobby day in Washington is Tuesday, June 23.

The annual outpouring of letters to Congress from churches and synagogues on specific BFW legislative initiatives really does make a difference for hungry people. The 1997 BFW "Hunger Has a Cure" effort helped win $1.7 billion in increased funding for nutrition programs, thus keeping more than 400,000 people from losing WIC or food stamps.

Your parish or local community can participate in the 1998 Offering of Letters. To obtain an organizing kit, a BFW handbook for the 105th Congress, and many other resources, call 301 608-2400 or E-mail: offering.of.letters@bread.org