wfn.org | Call for Compatibility of Foreign Debt with Human Rights

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

Call for Compatibility of Foreign Debt with Human Rights 
LWF Criticizes "Illegitimate Debt" at UN Commission on Human
Rights

GENEVA, 27 April 2005 (LWI) * The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has
called for a verification of the compatibility of foreign debt with
human rights.

In an oral statement to the 61st Session of the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights, March 14-April 22, the LWF emphasized:
"Foreign debt affects the daily lives of so many people around the
world, and is not just a question of economic calculus." The statement
was delivered by a representative of the LWF Office for International
Affairs and Human Rights.

The LWF welcomed the increasing international attention being given to
the unsustainable foreign debt affecting human development in many
countries around the world. According to the LWF, the key issue was not
an analysis of the sustainability of debt service obligations, but of
the legitimacy of the debts themselves. This was the basis of work being
done by LWF member churches in Latin America and many other partner
organizations.

"Loans made to dictators without any guarantee of democratic
accountability and for purposes that were plainly not for the public
benefit are clearly illegitimate," the LWF stated.

The LWF nevertheless welcomed the Commission's contribution to the
foreign debt policy debate. In a resolution in 2000, the Commission had
noted that economic structural reforms arising from foreign debt should
not undermine fundamental rights such as the right to food, education,
and adequate health care. (246 words)

(By Barbara Schneider, youth trainee in the LWF Office for
Communication Services.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work.
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

* * *

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