Jubilee South is a network of jubilee and debt campaigns, social movements, people's organizations, communities, NGOs and political formations. The Jubilee South network aims to and is in the process of emerging and developing as an international South movement on the debt.
It has members from over 40 countries from the regions of Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia/Pacific, composed of 85 groups.
It was formally constituted in November 1999 in a South-South Summit held in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. The Summit brought together 119 leaders and representatives from various groups in 35 countries of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, and established Jubilee South as an international network and movement of peoples of the South.
Jubilee South can trace its beginnings to 1997 and 1998 when various unrelated initiatives and exchanges began taking place among groups from within and between the three regions of Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia/Pacific which all had a common thread: the dream of a South-South process that would enable the articulation of a united perspective, position and agenda on the issue and build a global campaign based on these.
Jubilee South believes that the External Debt of countries of the South is immoral and illegitimate:
Creditors have used debt as an instrument of exploitation and control of our peoples, resources, and countries. This alone is enough to render the so-called debts of the South as illegitimate.
The immorality and illegitimacy of these debts also rests on the terrible impact of the burden of debt servicing on the economies of the countries of the South, on the environment, and on the lives and well being of our peoples.
Furthermore, many of these debts were contracted by illegitimate parties, and/or through illegitimate means, and/or accompanied with illegitimate terms, and/or used for illegitimate purposes.
The peoples of the South do not owe these debts. These "debts" have in fact been paid many times over in financial terms and, more importantly, in human terms by peoples of the South. Jubilee South rejects the continued plunder of the South by way of debt payments!
Jubilee South is committed to the following strategic goals:
- COLLECTIVE REPUDIATION by South governments of odious, onerous, criminal, fraudulent and all illegitimate debts and the formation of a strategic alliance to achieve external debt cancellation
- RECHANNELING OF PUBLIC FUNDS away from debt service and ensuring that public funds be used primarily for people's welfare and basic services, and equitable and sustainable development
- TOTAL DEBT CANCELLATION WITHOUT CONDITIONALITIES by creditors to redress injustices and squarely address the issue of illegitimate debts and the urgent need to prioritize human welfare and equitable and sustainable development
- END TO STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMS and shutdown of the IMF and WB and other similar multilateral institutions promoting neoliberal economic policies
- FULL RESTITUTION and REPARATIONS by creditors for the human, social, environmental damage caused by their debt policies, structural adjustment programs and other economic policies, and their exploitation of the peoples and resources of the South
- RECOGNITION OF SOUTH peoples and countries as legitimate creditors of a historical, social and ecological debt
- ELIMINATION OF WEALTH CONCENTRATION AND INCOME INEQUALITY as necessary steps toward the eradication of poverty, social violence, exclusion and ecological destruction
- SYSTEMIC, STRUCTURAL and POLICY CHANGES and programs that will get the South out of the debt trap, prevent the repetition of these problems and promote political and economic democracy and equity, popular empowerment and sustainable development
- TRANSFORMATION of the GLOBAL CAPITALIST ECONOMIC SYSTEM and BUILDING of A NEW WORLD ECONOMIC ORDER that is people-centered, equitable, gender-fair, sustainable and democratic
Jubilee South's work as a global movement is anchored on the strategy of developing our movements in the South, linking with our allies in the North, and finally shifting the balance of power to achieve basic social changes in our countries and in the global system. This involves:
Helping strengthen local and national grass roots-based campaigns, movements and people's initiatives on debt and related issues through:
- Facilitating exchange of information, materials and experiences
- Conducting education, research and training activities and services
- Facilitating solidarity and political support
Contributing to the forging and strengthening of a collective voice of the peoples of the South and providing global expressions to our common struggles against debt and domination by:
- Building South-South unities on critical issues and promoting and disseminating these unities
- Ensuring the perspective, presence and participation of the South in global campaigns
Share in the effort to build and promote South-North solidarity and cooperation through:
- Continuing dialogues, exchanges and consultations
- Joint initiatives, projects and campaigns
Developing and conducting global campaigns that:
- Support and complement local and national campaigns and struggles
- Promote the issues, perspectives and aspirations of the peoples of the South in international arenas
- Engage and challenge the global institutions and forces
The Jubilee South, as a network and a developing movement, is bound together by unities as reflected in the Jubilee South Declaration of Unities.
Identification with these unities and participation in concrete efforts of promoting and implementing these unities serve as the main basis by which Jubilee South constituency is defined and identified, rather than through specific organizational requirements of membership.
We invite all campaigns, social movements, networks, people's organizations, NGOs and political movements in the South who share our principles and goals to join Jubilee South and work together in forging a strong global movement of all South peoples
for FREEDOM FROM DEBT AND FREEDOM FROM DOMINATION!
The global structure is composed of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC) and the Global Secretariat.
THE MEMBERS OF THE ICC ARE:
International Coordinator
o Lidy B. Nacpil (Freedom from Debt Coalition [FDC] Philippines/JS Asia-Pacific Region)
Co-Coordinators
o Beverly Ann Keene (Dialogo 2000 of Argentina/JS Latin America and the Caribbean Region)
o Brian Ashley (Jubilee 2000 Coalition South Africa/JS Africa Region)
Representatives from Africa
o Bishop Bernardino Matias Mandlate (Mozambican Debt Group/Christian Council of Mozambique)
o Georgine Kengni Djeutane (Ecumenical Service for Peace, Cameroon)
Representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean
o Alejandro Bendaņa (Jubilee 2000 Coalition of Nicaragua)
o Marcos Arruda/Sandra Quintela (Jubilee 2000 of Brazil)
Representatives from Asia and the Pacific
o Shelly Emalin Rao (Fiji Council of Churches)
o Fr. Albert Suatengco (Philippine-Asia Camp) |
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