Press Release — April 22, 2015
Grassroots health movement in developing world to challenge unjust debt burdens from IMF, World Bank, and wealthy countries
Contact: Amee Amin, amee@join25.org +1 419 934 0032, www.burythechains.org
BOSTON, USA — The Article 25 movement is launching a global “Bury the Chains” campaign to cancel unjust debt burdens on poor countries and reform harmful foreign lending practices from multilateral institutions, Western governments, and private firms.
The campaign launch comes after a two-month long offline and online Global Vote, in which over 10,000 people voted on Article 25’s campaign priorities for 2015. A remarkable 90% of voters came from low-income communities across the global South. Article 25 aims to challenge debt burdens labelled as ‘unjust’: debts incurred for the benefit of foreign governments and investors and to the detriment of citizens in debtor states, predominantly countries in the developing world. Unjust debts take various forms — illegitimate loans given to dictators for political leverage, unsustainable loans with exorbitantly high interest rates from rich countries or private banks — but all stem from a legacy of colonialism.
Unjust debts have undermined development — the developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. The effects of unjust debt burdens invade the daily lives of the poor: empty pharmacies and user fees at public hospitals, small farmer’s crops reduced to prices below imported products because of unfair tariffs, school fees for children who will never have the opportunity to reach their potential, environmental concerns from natural resource extraction by foreign companies. Harsh loan conditions forced poor countries to sacrifice investment in health, education, infrastructure, agriculture, and social services — all essential measures of economic growth.
Just recently, “professors from three leading British universities [said] International Monetary Fund policies favoring international debt repayment over social spending contributed to the Ebola crisis by hampering health care in the three worst-hit West African countries.”
Eugene Foyeth, a health activist in Cameroon, remarked “We don’t want to work anymore to feed capitalism — but instead save our people’s lives. Canceling debt burdens & reforming harmful lending practices will allow poor countries to provide access to basic needs like primary care, clean water and food.”
Currently there no clear global mechanisms for alleviating unjust debt burdens. Forms of debt restructuring, like the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, have received much criticism for working in favor foreign lenders instead of helping indebted countries. However, there are a number of things that can be done to address unjust debt burdens: canceling unjust debt, stopping creditors from preying on poor countries, using loan conditions to create avenues for improving social services. Many poor countries are now turning to borrow bilaterally from China, which is willing to meet their vast borrowing needs to finance development — but the implications of such lending, especially in the case of default, may further exacerbate the current debt trap.
“Unjust debt is a multi-stakeholder issue,” says Catherine Gordon, Article 25’s Campaign Manager, “This campaign is about reparations for decades-long oppression from debt burdens that were created for Western profit.” The campaign is currently crowdfunding for its first actions. Campaign supporters include many long-time human rights activists including civil rights journalist Adam Hochschild & HIV activist Peter Staley.
For more information about Article 25 and the campaign, visit www.burythechains.org. You can also join Article 25’s conversation on Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag #burythechains
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