GET ACTIVE

Tell Congress: Broader Debt Cancellation Needed in 2007! This month, send a message to the new Congress, to tell them about the need for broader debt cancellation in 2007. Please urge your Members of Congress to support legislation that would cancel the debts of all impoverished countries that require it to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Send a message to the 110th Congress NOW by using the simple e-mail form below!

November 22, 2009 Subject: Dear Member: I urge you to continue the fight against global poverty. The year marks the halfway point to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), global commitments that would cut extreme poverty in half by 2015. Yet, as we draw closer to the halfway point, we remain very far from meeting these goals. I urge you to support legislation that would cancel the debts of all impoverished countries that require it to meet the MDGs, without harmful economic policy conditions attached. Broader debt cancellation would free up urgently needed resources for health care, education, and clean water. Conditionalities, such as those requiring impoverished countries to privatize much-needed resources or freeze all hiring and salaries for health care workers, only further entrench these countries in poverty. Already countries benefiting from 100 percent debt cancellation have put these funds towards poverty alleviation: • In Burundi, elimination of school fees in 2005 allowed an additional 300,000 children to enroll. • In Zambia, 4,500 new teachers have been hired and fees for rural healthcare have been abolished. • In Tanzania, more than 31,000 new classrooms were built and net enrollment rose by almost 30 percent in 2003. • In Burkina Faso, debt relief savings have been targeted to fight AIDS, improve education, and provide access to safe drinking water. While we commend the United States and other G-8 leaders for taking action in 2005 to cancel the debts of 20 impoverished countries, still far too many nations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have been left out of the 2005 agreement and still the harmful IMF and World Bank policy conditions remain. I hope you will join me and the Jubilee USA Network in observing the Sabbath Year, seven years after the historic Jubilee 2000 campaign. In the 2007 Sabbath Year, we will join with other people of faith and conscience to build on these success stories and work for the jubilee vision of right relations and an end to unjust debt and global poverty. I hope you will join us! Sincerely, We will add your signature from the information you provide.		First Name* Last Name* Email* Street* Street 2 City* State/Province* Select a state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces (the) Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip/Postal Code*