wfn.org | UMNS# 04566-Groups call for debt cancellation to fight AIDS

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Groups call for debt cancellation to fight AIDS crisis 

Dec. 2, 2004	 News media contact:   Kathy  Gilbert * (615) 7425470* 
Nashville {04566}

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - Rallying on World AIDS Day, several organizations -
including the United Methodist Board of Church and Society - called for full
debt cancellation for all impoverished nations and an end to international
policies that hamper those countries in fighting HIV/AIDS.

The groups rallied outside the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
offices Dec. 1.

"Statistics make clear that the countries most impacted by AIDS are those
countries that are heavily strapped with debt," said Susan Burton, a staff
executive with the Board of Church and Society, reading a statement by her
agency. "Debt relief would allow countries to transfer funds to those
critical programs that would help slow the rate of AIDS, would provide much
needed drugs to AIDS victims, would provide educational information on
sexuality to young people, and would provide economic opportunities for men
and women." 

Like AIDS, women and children bear the full costs of debt repayment, she
said.

"We lift up 13-year-old Margaret Masawi of Zimbabwe, who dreams of becoming a
teacher. Young as she is, she heads a household and cares for her two younger
brothers. Margaret and her brothers are three of the 980,000 children in
Zimbabwe who have lost one or both parents to AIDS," she said. 

"The United Methodist Church pledges to increase its commitment to
alleviating AIDS around the globe and also address the injustice of the debt
crisis," she continued. "We call upon all United Methodists to take a stand
for those whose voices are not heard - like Margaret - in the public square."

Other speakers at the rally included Marie Clarke Brill of Africa Action.
"Increasingly, in Africa and around the world, AIDS has a woman's face,"
Brill said. "If we are to turn the tide of this pandemic, we need to promote
strategies that will address the gender inequalities that leave women most
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Instead, the policies of the World Bank and IMF
continue to undermine women's health globally."

Jakeya Caruthers of Jubilee USA Network emphasized the impact that
international debt is having on poor countries' ability to fight AIDS. 

"While impoverished countries struggle to cope with the HIV/AIDS crisis, the
World Bank and IMF continue to insist that they prioritize debt repayments
over spending on HIV/AIDS programs and health care," Caruthers said. "The
policies imposed by these institutions cripple the ability of African
countries to respond to HIV/AIDS. We demand that they drop the debt now to
fight HIV/AIDS."

At the noon rally, dozens of women and girls dressed in red created a human
chain in the form of a women's symbol to dramatize the disproportionate
impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls globally. The number of women living
with HIV/AIDS continues to increase in every region of the world, according
to the United Nations. In Africa, almost 60 percent of those living with
HIV/AIDS are women.

"We gather here on World AIDS Day outside two of the most powerful financial
institutions in the world to call on them to do the right thing and put an
end to policies that block progress on the fight against HIV/AIDS for women
and girls," said Emira Woods, with Foreign Policy in Focus. "While women bear
the brunt of this disease, their vulnerability is increased still further by
the harmful policies of these institutions."

Added Njoki Njehu, with 50 Years Is Enough Network: "If the World Bank and
IMF are serious about defeating this pandemic and promoting women's rights,
they must cancel the debt and end budget austerity policies that deepen
poverty (and) perpetuate gender inequality."

The United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Africa Action and Jubilee
USA provided information for this report.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service