By Elena McCollim, Bread for the World (2001)
Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian citizen's movement seeking justice for the world's hungry people by lobbying our nation's decision makers. LWR works with Bread for the World on hunger-related advocacy issues. To learn more, please visit their website at www.bread.org.
So what has debt relief accomplished?
Uganda's total debt burden has been reduced by about $2 billion dollars. Today, 6.5 million Ugandan children are attending primary school-more than double the 2.7 million attending in 1997.
| Country |
Amount of relief due over time (US $ million) |
| Benin |
265 |
| Bolivia |
1,302 |
| Burkina Faso |
398 |
| Cameroon |
1,260 |
| Chad |
157 |
| The Gambia |
67 |
| Guinea |
545 |
| Guinea-Bissau |
416 |
| Guyana |
585 |
| Honduras |
556 |
| Madagascar |
814 |
| Malawi |
643 |
| Mali |
523 |
| Mauritania |
622 |
| Mozambique |
1,970 |
| Nicaragua |
3,267 |
| Niger |
521 |
| Rwanda |
452 |
| Sao Tome & Principe |
97 |
| Senegal |
488 |
| Tanzania |
2,026 |
| Uganda |
1,003 |
| Zambia |
2,499 |
| TOTAL |
20,476 |
In Malawi, 60 percent of the funds freed up by debt relief are being channeled into health and education spending. Before it saw any debt relief, Malawi's precious resources were drained away by unreasonable debt service payments. Now the government has budgeted money for items neglected for years: the purchase of much-needed drugs for hospitals and health centers, training for new teachers, and the building of wells to provide safe drinking water to rural communities.
In Honduras, the government has made a commitment to extend compulsory education from six to nine years-in other words, to make secondary school compulsory as well as primary school. The government is training and hiring an extra 1,000 teachers this year in order to reach this goal.
Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Jubilee movement all around the world, including Bread for the World members, the years 1999 and 2000 represented a watershed in the long struggle for cancellation of the intolerable burden of debt of the world's poorest countries. In the United States, Congress passed debt relief legislation in 1999 and 2000 that is beginning to yield its first benefits.
While there is still a long way to go, the first results of debt relief are beginning to be felt:
- In Mozambique, the government is immunizing an additional half a million children against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
- With substantially reduced debt service payments, Burkina Faso is putting most of the money back into education. Last year its government added 800 new classrooms.
- Cameroon, which qualified for debt relief in October 2000, received a $114 million cut in debt service. A national HIV/AIDS control program was already in place, but was small-scale and fragmented. In national discussions about how to spend debt relief funds, HIV/AIDS emerged as a key area for new resources. In September 2000, a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategic plan for 2001-03 was launched.
The Long Road to Debt Relief
After the Group of 7 industrialized nations agreed to an international debt relief plan in Cologne, Germany, in 1999, the United States pledged a total $920 million in debt relief over four years as its part of the effort. In the fall of 1999, Congress passed the first $110 million, and in the fall of 2000, another $435 million.
In 2001, Bread for the World and its coalition partners are asking Congress for another $240 million toward fulfilling its commitment. The chances for success this year are high. Both the House and the Senate versions of the foreign spending bill now under consideration contain the needed amount for debt relief.
While debt cancellation itself is important, Bread for the World has also lobbied consistently for the initiative to be carried out in a way that would benefit poor and hungry people. Based on the debt-relief legislation we supported, the U.S. government established a clear link between debt relief and poverty reduction. As a result, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were instructed to make the reduction of poverty their overarching objective in low-income developing countries. Funds freed up by debt relief are to be directed to poverty reduction. To qualify for debt relief, governments are supposed to develop a poverty reduction through a public, consultative process.
Where We Are Now
Currently, 23 countries have qualified for debt relief. Nineteen of them are in sub-Saharan Africa (see box at right). Another 12 countries are being considered for debt relief. But the process has taken more time in these countries, because many are in the throes of civil conflict.
Only a handful of the countries that have received debt relief have developed poverty reduction strategies through a process of public discussion. The others have received some debt relief based on an interim document, with additional relief available after the poverty reduction strategy is developed. Citizen participation in government policy making - especially economic policy - is new in many of the countries now receiving debt relief. The process requires new public advocacy skills from citizens, and increased sensitivity and flexibility from government decision makers. Though these public processes are far from perfect, they are fostering a more democratic ethos in many places.
Where It Is Happening: Country Cases
The Ugandan government focused debt-relief resources on primary schools. The public discussion of its poverty reduction strategy led to new procedures to reduce corruption in the education sector. Now, when money is disbursed, it is announced on radio and in newspapers. Public information has, by all accounts, reduced corruption dramatically.
In Bolivia, the parliament recently passed legislation to implement the results of last year's National Dialogue, when the Bolivian government brought together civic organizations, trade unions, private businesses, and other actors to draw up a plan for the fight against poverty. The legislation includes setting up a mechanism empowering such groups to monitor the expenditure of debt relief funds. This mechanism was the chief recommendation coming out of an earlier consultation process, the Jubilee National Forum, led by the Bolivian Catholic Church. In Zambia, many organizations have come together in order to coordinate their input into the poverty reduction strategy being drawn up by the Zambian government. Led by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and civic groups held workshops before the government-sponsored consultation process began. The NGOs identified five issue areas as important to poverty reduction efforts: livelihoods and employment; gender; HIV/AIDS; the environment; and food security. Though the Zambian government has shown reluctance to include the NGOs in the drafting of the poverty reduction document, the NGOs continue to press for greater participation. Bread for the World Institute is monitoring the debt relief process in Zambia in partnership with the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection.
Various organizations in Malawi have been increasing their involvement in policy decisions. The Malawi Economic Justice Network (MEJN) monitors and advocates on the government's preparation of that country's poverty reduction plan. Led by MEJN, citizens also lobbied to get anti-poverty priorities into the Finance Minister's budget speech.
Where We Are Heading: Debt Relief in the Future
Many groups that have been part of the Jubilee campaign argue for deeper debt cancellation. Countries that have received debt relief still have heavy debt burdens, and other, slightly less-poor countries haven't benefited at all. Bread for the World believes that some of the countries that qualify for debt relief deserve more relief than they have received. It is also crucial that churches and other grassroots groups push effectively from below to translate debt relief into opportunity and political voice for poor people. Bread for the World Institute and other groups in the industrialized countries can help - by assistance to these groups in their own advocacy work, and by pressing international institutions and the U.S. government to live up to the ambitious policies they have adopted.
We can rejoice in the gains that have been achieved. But the fight is not over. The chains of debt have been loosened, but they are not yet broken.
Take action to help break the chains of debt.
Learn more about LWR's advocacy work.
