The Campaign in the U.K. |
Birmingham, May 1998
By 1998, the Jubilee 2000 campaign had grown from its origins and embraced a wide range of religious and poverty groups. But even the leaders of the coalition hardly expected the response that they received for a protest they called for Birmingham, England in May of 1998.
Birmingham had been designated as the site for the G8 summit of the leaders of seven of the world’s largest industrial nations and Russia. The Jubilee 2000 coalition called for rally at the city’s convention center to draw the attention of the world’s leaders to the problem of debt and demand that the individual countries drop their bilateral debt and pressure the World Bank and IMF to do the same. Between 50 and 70 thousand people showed up in Birmingham to form a human chain (to represent the chains of debt holding back poor countries). Traffic was snarled and the city was paralyzed.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair rushed to the site of the protests to meet with the leaders of Jubilee 2000 (the site of the summit was actually some twenty miles outside of Birmingham). He promised to raise the debt issue at the summit. In the end, the G8 did not pledge to do anything about debt in its communiqué at the end of Birmingham summit.
However, the Jubilee campaign had firmly established itself as a political force. Many observers described the Birmingham protests as the “big bang” of the debt forgiveness movement. The event drew wide coverage in the British press (though the U.S. press largely ignored the protest) and the cause of debt relief became a significant political issue.
Next year at the G-8 summit in Cologne, Germany, a huge throng of people joined hands once again to show their support for debt relief. This time, the G-8 leaders took notice and pledged $100 billion cutback in HIPC indebtedness. However this figure was far short of the complete loan forgiveness that the campaigners had sought. The Guardian observed that the amount of debt relief each year for individual countries would be relatively modest. For example under the plan, Mozambique would see its debt service decreased from $98 million to $73 million a year.
Once again, Prime Minister Blair met with some of the protesters. He conceded that it was unlikely that the G7 and Russia would consider cuts as extensive as the campaigners were demanding. But he emphasized that he remained committed to the cause of debt relief and of making significant strides for the Jubilee year.
Links
An Archive of the Jubilee 2000 web site is available here.
An exhaustive account of the events and outcomes of the Birmingham protests can be viewed here.
A photo gallery of the Birmingham protests can be accessed here.
The Telegraph's account of the protest and of the G-8 communique can be read here.
The Guardian reports on the results of the G8 summit in Cologne here and the reaction of campaigners to the communique here.
London, December 1999
During the last days of 1999, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown announced that Britain would waive all bilateral debt owed to Britain by the world's poorest 41 countries, as soon as any of these countries starts receiving debt forgiveness from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Brown hoped that the British pledge would jumpstart international co-operation on the debt issue. He noted,
Securing debt relief has meant forging a new alliance against poverty between the world's richest and poorest countries. Inspired by the campaign led by churches and charities, the principle of enhanced debt relief was agreed at Cologne in July, the framework for financing in Washington in October, and now the detailed financial plan is being implemented.
However securing international co-operation proved difficult. Countries owed more than Britain, such as Japan, were not keen to erase their bilateral debt. Moreover, the IMF and World Bank (controlled by the industrialized nations) could not decide on scheme for debt relief either.
In December of 2000, Jubilee 2000 closed its doors, having been conceived of as purpose-driven organization with a definite expiration date. Many of the campaigners decided to carry on the fight under the flag of a “Drop the Debt” coalition. Guardian writer, Larry Elliot observed
For the past four years the terms of the debate have been set by the debt campaigners, who little by little have forced the plight of the world's forgotten people onto the political agenda. Not only has Jubilee 2000 been comfortably the most successful mass movement of the past 25 years, but it has also shown how the process known as globalization is nurturing its own opponents.
Staggering though the success of Jubilee 2000 has been, Saturday will still have an air of melancholy. Why? Because the goal of wiping out the unpayable debts of the world's poorest countries has not been achieved. Victory remains tantalizingly just out of grasp. There is still plenty of unfinished business.
Links
This Guardian article describes a typical day for a Jubilee 2000 staffer.
Guardian story reporting the decision by the British government to drop the debt.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown explains why Britain must "smash the chains" of debt.
Guardian editorial praises Jubilee 2000.
Story describes Jubilee 2000's demise.
This Telegraph article describes the continuing problems Tony Blair faced in 2001 in getting other members of the G8 to create a plan for debt relief.