*PRESS AND MEDIA RELEASE*

Addressed to: Secretaries of New Zealand Political Parties.

Dear Secretary

Re: CANCELLATION OF THIRD WORLD DEBT – ELECTION MANIFESTO

The Executive of the Jubilee Aotearoa Debt Action Network would be grateful if the [Party Name] would consider and include in its Manifesto for the next Parliamentary elections, a strong statement committing your Party to:

  • The 100% cancellation of the unsustainable debt of poor countries
  • The withdrawal of harmful donor economic “conditionalities” on future loans
  • The support of the UK Proposal to cancel debt through (among other measures) the sale or revaluation of IMF gold reserves, and not at the expense of existing aid budgets, and
  • Contributing financially to multilateral debt cancellation.

“Some of the world’s poorest countries…are trapped under a burden of foreign-owned debt as destructive as any tsunami. Every month more people die from poverty related causes in Africa alone than the tsunami drowned,” writes Brian Easton, Listener, February, 2005. When millions of people do not have enough to eat or access safe water and basic education and health care because their governments have to repay loan upon loan, and when, in some countries, more than 30% of GNP is spent on debt repayment, we are asking all political parties to stand up for them by urging powerful institutions such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and International Financial Institutions to cancel the debt.

We believe cancelling the debt is a necessary step towards eradicating poverty in the world. But it needs to be accompanied by increasing government aid and fairer international trade rules. If NZ were to contribute our share to current proposals from the UK to relieve of 100% of multi-lateral debts of the group of heavily indebted poor countries, the extra cost to NZ would be an estimated $5 million per annum until 2015. Without 100% cancellation heavily indebted nations will never achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals for 2015.

We have attached two papers outlining the case for cancellation. We trust your Committee will find them informative and helpful in its decision making. The papers are: “Policy Statement on Developing-Country Debt.” Council for International Development, December, 2004; and “Put People First”, a position paper of Jubilee Aotearoa, August, 2002. We would be happy to address your Committee and/or to supply further information.

The Jubilee Aotearoa Debt Action Network is a coalition that meets regularly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, New Zealand Aid, Treasury, and in co-operation with the Council for International Development (CID), to put the case for debt cancellation rather then debt sustainability among the poor countries of Asia, Africa, the Pacific and Central and Southern America. Membership includes: the Anglican Social Justice Office, Arena, Caritas Aotearoa, Christian World Service, CID, Development Resource Centre, Latin America Committee, Oxfam New Zealand, Student Christian Movement, Tear Fund, World Vision and many concerned individuals.

We are confident that a strong statement on Third World debt cancellation in your party’s manifesto would meet with strong electoral appeal. We look forward to your reply.

For the Committee

Yours faithfully

Peter Zwart
Coordinator, Jubilee Aotearoa

Notes to Editors

  • The Jubilee Aotearoa Debt Action Network is a coalition that meets regularly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, New Zealand Aid, Treasury, and in co-operation with the Council for International Development (CID). Its membership includes: the Anglican Social Justice Office, Arena, Caritas Aotearoa, Christian World Service, CID, Development Resource Centre, Latin America Committee, Oxfam New Zealand, Student Christian Movement, Tear Fund, World Vision and many concerned individuals.