| Issue:
In the world’s most impoverished nations, most of
the people do not have access to clean water, adequate
housing, or basic health care. These countries are paying
debt service to wealthy nations and institutions at the
expense of providing basic services to their citizens.
In 2003, the UN estimated that 30,000 children die each
day due to preventable diseases. Debt cancellation frees
up resources to reverse this devastating reality.
Jubilee USA, an organization committed to relieving
the debt of poor nations, is working this week to build
support for House Resolution 241, which would immediately
cancel Haiti’s debt and give its people an opportunity
to build a stable democracy and work toward a future
free from poverty.
Background: Haiti is the most impoverished
country in the Americas. Eighty percent of the population
lives in abject poverty and one out of nine children
dies before reaching the age of five. Life expectancy
is 53 years, and nearly half the population cannot read.
Haiti’s government is forced to divert $56 million
per year from fighting this poverty to reimburse international
financial institutions that were established to help
countries like Haiti fight poverty. Over half of Haiti’s
$1.3 billion debt is for loans granted to Haiti’s
dictators.
Social spending has risen by 75 percent in countries
that have received debt relief, with funds used to abolish
school fees, provide free immunizations, fight HIV/AIDS,
and improve access to safe drinking water. Canceling
Haiti’s debt could increase the environmental
budget tenfold to reverse the degradation that leaves
Haiti vulnerable to tropical storms and mudslides. Alternatively,
the amount could double resources spent on education
or triple funds spent on AIDS prevention.
In 2006, the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund added Haiti to its heavily indebted poor countries
debt cancelation program. That won’t cancel Haiti’s
debt for several years, though, and it comes with strings
attached that will make Haiti’s poverty worse
in the short term, and possibly for the long term. Haiti’s
onerous debt should be canceled immediately without
conditions, as a matter of justice and as an essential
tool in the global fight to end poverty.
Action: You can help by contacting
your member of Congress and urging him or her to co-sponsor
House Resolution 241 to help cancel Haiti‘s debt
immediately and without strings. Call (202)224-3121
and ask for your Representative’s office, or email:
Rep. Jay Inslee – 1st Dist. jay.inslee@mail.house.gov
Rep. Rick Larsen – 2nd Dist. rick.larsen@mail.house.gov
Rep. Jim McDermott – 7th Dist. www.house.gov/mcdermott
Rep. Dave Reichert – 8th Dist. www.house.gov/reichert
Rep. Adam Smith – 9th Dist. www.house.gov/adamsmith
For more information on relieving debts of the poorest
countries, visit www.jubilee.usa.org
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