SOCIAL TOPICS (Archive): INTERNATIONAL SOCIALLY RESPONSIVE INVESTING

Published, June 1999

       by Cathy Rowan

       The major turning of the calendar page we will experience this December 31 is focusing energy on more than Y2K. January 1, 2000 marks the beginning of a Jubilee year. Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word jobel, the curved ram’s horn that was sounded to mark the Jubilee every 50 years in ancient Israel. The Hebrew Scriptures tell us that justice needs to be restored periodically when social and environmental equilibrium is thrown out of balance. The ‘jobel’ called the people to rectify inequalities — release slaves; give animals and the land a period of rest; cancel debts; and marked the start of a Jubilee year.

       Today the Jubilee vision has inspired grassroots campaigns in countries including England, Canada, the Philippines, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Ghana, South Africa, Brazil, and the United States to call for a sweeping cancellation of the financial debt of the world’s poorest countries. While the Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign includes significant participation by religious groups, it is not limited to organizations or individuals with a religious perspective. The common ground for Jubilee 2000/USA participants is a moral commitment to debt cancellation for poor countries.

       Some of the poorest countries in the world have been struggling with an immense debt burden since 1982. Much of the debt these countries carry is the result of ill-conceived development, flawed policies that government-sponsored creditors required in exchange for assistance, and shortsighted decisions by their own leaders. Much of the borrowing benefited only elites in the receiving countries, while the burden of paying the debt is falling upon the most impoverished members of society.

       Most of the increase in international debt during the 1990s came from interest accruing on existing loans, not for productive investment or to eliminate poverty. Developing countries have paid out more in debt service than they received in new loans — a total transfer from the poorest regions of the globe to the richest of US$77 billion. The external debt of sub-Saharan Africa now stands at $235 billion, with more money going out of Africa through debt servicing than is available to meet basic needs of health, education, food, water, and sanitation.

       The Jubilee 2000/USA platform calls for definitive debt cancellation in a way that benefits ordinary people. It also calls for acknowledgment by both lenders and borrowers of their role in creating the debt burden, and for the development of “mechanisms to monitor international monetary flows and prevent recurring destructive cycles of indebtedness.”

       How can debt cancellation really benefit ordinary people? By redirecting funds formerly allocated to debt repayments to more socially beneficial uses such as health care, education, and rural development programs. Some countries have proposed setting up a special audited fund into which the savings from debt relief could be deposited. With the oversight and participation of citizens’ groups as well as the government, the funds could be disbursed in accordance with national priorities.

       Even rich countries would benefit from debt relief. World leaders will be bringing debt relief proposals to the next G-7 meeting. Not only would cancellation of crushing international debt be the ethical thing to do, it could lead to greater political stability in many countries, contribute to efforts to raise labor standards and wages worldwide, and allow more resources to be used to protect the environment.

Cathy Rowan, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner since 1987, lived and worked in Brazil for six years with her family. She is the Corporate Responsibility Coordinator for the Maryknoll Mission Association and Marykknoll Sister.