wfn.org | LWF urges G8 Summit to free world's poorest from debt burden

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Previous debt reschedulings have not adequately responded to crisis

GENEVA, 17 June 1999 (lwi)   Ahead of the G8 Summit in Cologne beginning
18 June 1999, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is urging the
governments comprising the group of the world's industrialized nations,
to respond to the debt crisis in a way that enables all countries to
enter the next millennium free from the burden of unsustainable debt.

In a letter addressed to the heads of government of the G8 countries,
the LWF General Secretary Dr. Ishmael Noko urges the Cologne Summit "to
be bold in fashioning a response to the debt crisis - which will be more
than yet another half-measure or accounting device, a response which
will enable all the countries of the world to enter the next millennium
free from the burden of unsustainable debt."

Like many church and civil society groups around the world, Noko's
letter states, "the LWF sees the year 2000 as a spiritual and
psychological kairos which calls us to reconsider the system which has
placed the burden of unsustainable debt upon the poorest people of the
poorest countries in the world."

"We believe that this debt must be cancelled and the resources released
thereby applied to poverty alleviation and social development objectives
identified by the societies concerned," Noko writes on behalf of the LWF

Noko refers to the LWF's continuous commitment to and involvement in
humanitarian assistance and the promotion of people-centered development
which is clearly expressed in the Federation's presence in field
programs in the areas of humanitarian assistance and development in more
than 25 countries worldwide. He also underscores the organization's long
history of advocating for social and economic justice, and for the
promotion and protection of human rights.

^From the above mentioned perspectives, the general secretary writes to
the G8 Summit that, "the LWF has long held a deep concern about the
impediment that unsustainable foreign debt presents to development and
to the enjoyment of human rights in the world's poorest countries."

The LWF believes that the many rounds of debt-rescheduling as well as
the present form of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
Initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),
have been inadequate responses to the ongoing international debt crisis.

The LWF Council meeting last June in Geneva, urged the general
secretariat and the LWF's 124 member churches to encourage and support
the involvement in the Jubilee 2000 campaign, which seeks to provide
debt relief for the world's poorest countries by the year 2000. This
year, the Council meets from 22 to 29 June in Bratislava, Slovak
Republic.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/