wfn.org | Human chain to support debt relief for poor countries

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 8, 1999 News media contact: Thomas S. McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville,
Tenn.  10-21-31-71B{319}

By Shanta M. Bryant*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - United Methodists will be among the activists forming a
human chain around the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington June 18 to focus
attention on the need for debt cancellation for the world's poorest nations.

The chain, sponsored by Jubilee 2000/USA, will be formed at noon, the first
day of the G8 Summit in Cologne, Germany. G8 leaders are expected to discuss
seriously the debt relief issue at the summit.

"The human chain will be one of the most important acts of solidarity to put
substantial pressure on the Clinton administration to cancel debts for poor
countries," said Mark Harrison, program director for economic justice for
the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. "The administration needs
to know that Americans are watching and that we care."

^From June 12 through June 19, human chains will be created in Louisville,
Ky., and in several countries, including Great Britain, Scotland, Wales,
Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany and Finland. The chain in Louisville will
be created at the same time as the Washington event.

The Jubilee 2000 campaign is a worldwide movement of religious groups and
grassroots organizations. The campaign is based on the biblical principle of
jubilee, proclaimed every 50 years, which calls for slaves to be set free,
land returned to original owners and all debts to be canceled. The next
jubilee year is 2000, and campaign supporters hope debt cancellation would
allow debtor nations to create a new beginning.

Several heavily indebted countries have substantial United Methodist
constituencies, including the Philippines, Angola, Liberia, Mozambique,
Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The United Methodist Board of Church and Society
and the Women's Division of the church's Board of Global Ministries are
members of the Jubilee 2000/USA steering committee.

A number of United Methodist annual conferences have adopted resolutions
supporting Jubilee 2000.  The Student Forum of the United Methodist Student
Movement, meeting over the Memorial Day weekend in Oklahoma City, endorsed a
resolution supporting the effort. The World Council of Churches, which gets
major support from the United Methodist Church, adopted a resolution in
December in support of jubilee and debt forgiveness.

The massive debt payments by poor countries to Western countries, including
the United States, along with the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund, have forced debtor countries to shift funds that could be used for
education, health care services and food security.  Mozambique spends 10
times more on debt repayments than on health care services. 

United Methodist policy on the global debt crisis asserts: "Living standards
of those least responsible and most vulnerable should not be sacrificed in
order to meet external obligations."  The denomination's policy further
states that the burden should be shared equitably among creditor
institutions and the debtor governments and corporations.

Harrison noted that the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced the
Debt Relief for Poverty Reduction Act (HR 1095), which would require the
U.S. government to forgive debt owed by the world's poorest countries. He
urged United Methodists to call their representatives to support the bill.

#  #  #

FOR OPTIONAL INCLUSION IN STORY: For more information, contact Harrison at
(202) 488-5645, e-mail: mharrison@umc-gbcs.org; or David Bryden, Jubilee
2000/USA, at (202) 783-3566, e-mail: coord@j2000usa.org.

*Bryant is program director of communications and associate editor of
Christian Social Action magazine for the United Methodist Board of Church
and Society.

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