Week of Global Action Against Debt and International Financial Institutions set to begin around the world
Hundreds of networks and organizations around the world will mobilize during October 12-19 carrying out different activities for the Week of Global Action Against Debt and International Financial Institutions (IFIs).Global hunger and the growing impact of climate change are dramatic symptoms of the persistent problem of debt domination. In this sense, the second edition of the Week of Action will place special attention to the following demands: Food and financial sovereignty and climate and economic justice. The debts used to implement harmful projects and policies that have led to the current food, climate and credit crises are illegitimate and should not be paid under any circumstances.
More then 200 global, continental and national networks, organizations and social movements from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe have joined the Call of Action demanding the immediate unconditional cancellation of illegitimate debts and an end to the conditionalities of the IFIs such as the IMF, World Bank and Regional Development Banks as well as the payment of the ecological debts owed to the South. The organizations summon everyone to mobilize and challenge the IFIs, transnational corporations, and governments (North and South) to acknowledge their responsibilities for the continuing problem of debt domination.
On October 13, dedicated to Climate Change and its relation to debt and the IFIs, movements and organizations in various countries have agreed to send letters to the World Bank and governments - as well as other activities – to express their opposition to the Climate Investment Funds proposed by the Bank. As well as demanding the cancellation of illegitimate debt of the Southern countries, the organizations demand the end of financing for projects and policies that exacerbate climate change. In this sense, in Jakarta, Indonesia, social movements will demonstrate in front of the World Bank office against the Bank’s role in climate change related projects.
Until now, around 200 actions in different parts of the world have been confirmed - from public demonstrations and events to demand the cancellation of all debts in more then 20 cities in India to a Peoples Rally Against Debt, IFIs and Privatization which various organizations in the Philippines will be holding. Similarly, in more then 35 districts of Bangladesh, discussions, seminars and workshops such as the workshop ‘Climate Change, the World Bank and the Multi Donor Trust Fund’ and the seminar ‘Trade & Development Finance: Inter-sectoral linkages on food, climate, debt and IFI’.
The construction of an alternative financial architecture in favor of the interests and rights of peoples and the environment will also be an issue of debate during the Week of Global Action. In the context of the current financial crisis, several Latin American networks will launch a statement on alternative mechanisms of financing for development and proposals such as the South Bank and the withdrawal from the International Centre for Investment Dispute Settlement (ICSID) of the World Bank Group, as carried out by the government of Bolivia.
A few weeks after the official presentation of the report of the debt audit carried out by the government of Ecuador through the Integral Public Credit Audit Commission (CAIC, in its Spanish abbreviation), local organizations will hold a “Citizen forum on the results of the audit” and a debate on debt illegitimacy in the city of Guayaquil. Not far from there in Colombia, activities will be held throughout the Week, such as “Debates on debt illegitimacy and the impact on the human rights of women“ and a cultural demonstration against debt and for the right to water, health, education and a healthy environment in the city of Bogotá. Organizations in Cuba have also joined the Call and are organizing an event on foreign debt and the financial crisis.
In the meanwhile in the financial centre of Buenos Aires, an open radio program and street demonstrations for the “Day of Action for Food Sovereignty and the Struggle Against the Debt” will be carried out. Campesino organizations of Paraguay prepare various events on “Social and ecological debts” and a “Tribunal against the IFIs“ in the cities of Itapua and Encarnación.
More then 20 screening of documentaries which deal with the debt issue along with open debates will be carried out in many cities around the world such as the film “¿An end to poverty?” of Philippe Diaz which will be shown in Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco. “The Congo-China contract, the IMF and the World Bank and the reimbursement conditions” will be the issue of televised public debates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In Togo a special radio program in be held in tribute to Thomas Sankara (ex–president of Burkina Faso who called for debt cancellation and repudiation just before being assassinated) and other leaders for global change, while a conference-debate ''China and its role in Africa´s debt situation'' will be held in Niger.
More then 40 activities in churches and communities will be organized in the United States, while in Madrid the Week of Action will begin with a bicycle ride against debt from the main square. Elsewhere,
The Week of Global Action Against Debt and the IFIs also coincides with various special dates such as: October 12 – Continental Day of Resistance Against Colonialism and Neoliberalism (in the Americas), October 15 - Anniversary of the death of Thomas Sankara,
October 16 - Day of Action for Food Sovereignty and
October 17 – Global Day of Action against Poverty.
Special activities are being planned in many other countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil, Peru, Pakistan, Cameroon and Benin. A complete list of the activities can be found on the Week´s website www.debtweek.org (in English, Spanish, and French) along with the most important news on the Week, articles, graphic material and documents related to the different issues.
The Week of Global Action Against Debt and the IFIs is a part of the International Campaign on Illegitimate Debt carried out by networks and movements of the South and North, such as Jubilee South, the Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM), Eurodad, Jubilee USA and Eurodad, united by the struggle against illegitimate debt.
Support for the Call of Action is still being received and organizations are invited to send information on their planned activities to debtweek@gmail.com.
The complete Call of Action can be found in: http://debtweek.org/
Labels: Global Action Against Debt and the IFIs, International Campaign on Illegitimate Debt
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