GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION!
The Cork S26 Collective says
"Fifty years of exploitation is enough!"
On Tuesday 26th September, in solidarity with a wave of non-violent protests planned for cities across the world, the Cork S26 collective will be holding a funeral procession to mark the death of basic human rights, the degradation of the environment and thousands of lives lost in developing countries. All of these are direct results of the unjust policies enforced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB). The protest is timed to coincide with the gathering of IMF and WB economists in Prague to discuss the programme of global liberalisation of trade
The S26 Collective is an alliance of individuals and organisations united in opposition to the greed of the IMF and WB. We believe that the alternative is a society that is based not on the profit of a few but on the genuine needs of the many, on the principles of solidarity, mutual assistance and sustainable development.
Starting at 12.30p.m. from Daunt Square, Cork City, the procession will move peacefully along the South Mall, the financial heart of Cork City. Commiseratory drinks afterwards.
For more information, please contact Rob on 086 893 1600, or Cathi on 087 235 8366
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The World Bank (WB) is comprised of 5 agencies that make loans or guarantee credit to its 181 member countries. In addition to financing projects such as roads, power plants and schools, the Bank also makes loans to restructure a countries economic system by funding Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP's).
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established in order to supply member states with money to help them overcome short-term-balance-of-power payment difficulties. This money however is only made available after recipients have agreed to policy reforms in their economies - to implement an Structural Adjustment Policy.
The debt burden of the poorest countries kills 19,000 children every day. The poor countries of sub-Saharan Africa owe more than £300 billion in debt- three times more than they earn annually through exports. In Ethiopia debt repayments a refour times greater than spending on health. In Tanzania, where 40 percent of people die before the age of 35, debt repayments are six times more than health spending. The IMF alone has transferred more than £3 billion out of Africa since the mid-1980s.
IMF policies wreak havoc on the environment. IMF programmes are behind the drive for deforestation in indebted countries. Governments in these countries generate fast cash to pay the interest on debt by deforesting large areas. this can have devastating effects. Thousands of the deaths during Hurricane Mitch in 1998 were directly due to mud slides on deforested areas. The IMF forces farmers to produce a single crop for export as quickly as possible. This increases the likelihood of pests and viruses which cause crop failure.
The IMF is undemocratic and unaccountable. The IMF represents countries according to the size of their economies and not the needs of their people. The US, with only about 5 percent of the world's population. has 17 percent of votes in the IMF. Between them the G7 largest industrial countries have 45 percent of the votes. That is enough to force through the free market policies they want to suit the interests of giant multinationals.
Foreign aid, intended for development, is sometimes used for debt repayments to the international financial institutions. For example in 1999, Zambia spent 72% of total donor support on repaying external creditors.
According to United Nations calculations, during the nine day period of the World Bank and IMF meetings (September 19 &endash; 28) 170,000 children will die in Africa because of the debt burden. The poorest countries owe a total of $376 billion, and are forced to spend $60 million each day repaying debt to the West instead of investing in health and education.
"Poor countries have often been misled by advice - from respectable bankers, sometimes more interested in the return of their loans and medium-term prospects than in the level of existing debt." Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of IMF
"The Group of Seven and the Bretton Woods Institutions should aim to end the debt crisis for the poorest countries by 2000. The meagre financial costs contrast with the appalling human costs of inaction."
- The United Nations Human Development Report, 1999