African Social Forum on debt
African Social Forum on debt
AFRICAN SOCIAL FORUM DEBT WORKSHOP
Addis Ababa, January 6 & 7, 2003
The debt workshop was held on the afternoon of the 6th of January
and the morning of the 7th. It was attended by more than 40 people
on the 6th and more than 60 on the 7th. There was enthusiastic
participation as well as a high level of consensus on the issues
discussed. This reflected a renewed feeling of the importance of
the issues of debt and reparations.
People identified a certain sense in which action around debt and
reparations had decreased in the last year or two, due to, amongst
other reasons, a conceptualisation held by some that the Jubilee
campaign would only run to the year 2000 and a diversion of the
energies of many involved in debt issues into participation in the
World Bank and International Monetary Fund Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs).
There was agreement that we need to make every effort in putting
debt and reparations firmly back on the agenda. Central to this is
the need to build the movement against debt and for reparations
from the grassroots up. It is only on the basis of the strength of the
movement on the ground that we will be able to generate the
pressure to attain our demands.
The workshop adopted a methodology of building on the debt
workshop held in Bamako, Mali, in 2002 and, as such, this report
should be read in conjunction with the 2002 report.
It was structured as follows:
* An update on the current situation, particularly developments
since the Bamako workshop
* Discussion on our alternatives and consideration of proposals
put forward by other debt groups
* Strategies to implement our alternatives at the national,
regional, continental and international levels
* I. DEBT ANALYSIS.
* The workshop endorsed the analysis of debt and the call for
unconditional cancellation and reparations developed in Bamako
(Mali), last year.
* A) The illetimacy of debt:
* The general consensus is that the external debt of Third World
countries is odious, illegitimate and immoral. The illegitimacy of
debt is based on its historical roots and its structural causes. It is
also based on its use by the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and G8 countries as an instrument to
perpetuate their control and domination of the economies and
countries of the South. The debt is a tool they are not prepared to
relinquish.
* B) The racist dimension of debt:
* In addition, several participants spoke to the racist dimension of
debt. Its impact on the people of Africa and the South more
generally is of such a devastating nature that every day an
estimated 19. 000 children die of preventable diseases. This is a
direct a consequence of the the deterioration of the health systems
for lack of public investments crowded out by debt service. A
catastrophe of such proportions would never be tolerated in Europe
or North America, but the lives of people in Africa and the South
are clearly considered to be less important than those in the North.
* C) The Gender dimension of debt:
* The debt burden has particularly harsh consequences for women.
Debt repayments and the implementation of conditionalities
attached to loans have a severe impact on the provision of
government services so desperately needed by women and their
households. In addition, structural adjustment programs have
destroyed the African agricultural sector, with a devastating impact
on women, who are the majority of African farmers. This has led to
what many call the "feminization of poverty" in Africa.
* Women suffer not only from national debt, but also from individual
and household debt. Microcredit models imposed by financial and
other institutions from the North have had significant impacts on
women in the South. They have contributed to the collapse of
traditional forms of credit, entailed the handing over of personal
possessions as collateral for credit and resulted in women and their
households becoming increasingly trapped in a vicious circle of
indebtedness and poverty.
* Given the severe impact of the debt on women, it was agreed that
much more work needs to be done to integrate gender into our
alternatives and strategies.
* D) HIPC and PRSPs:
* The workshop reiterated the decision taken in Bamako to reject the
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative and the Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) in that they represent a
perpetuation of indebtedness and structural adjustment. The HIPC
Initiative has already failed, despite claims to the contrary by the
IMF and the World Bank. As for PRSPs, they are the disatrous
SAPs under a new name.
* There were two significant additions made with regard to PRSPs.
First, the promise of some "debt relief" on the completion of PRSPs
is being used as a further tool of control in that the "debt relief" is
made contingent on countries agreeing to additional conditions.
* Secondly, despite the rejection of PRSPs by Jubilee South, the
African Social Forum and other social movements in the South,
many Northern donors and NGOs have continued to make funding
available to organizations in the South on condition that they use
these funds to participate in PRSPs. The workshop resolved to
inform Northern donors and NGOs of the decision to reject PRSPs
and to encourage them to respect this decision.
* Moreover, it was stressed that the solutions to the African debt
crisis are to be developed in Africa and that donors should support
efforts in this regard.
* II. ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS:
* The Workshop stressed the fact that the solutions to the African
debt crisis are in Africa and Northern partners should support this
view. The workshop stressed that the building of the debt and
reparations movement from the grassroots up entails an
intensification of our efforts at circulating information and educating
people on debt and reparations. It also requires further research
and the continual development of our analysis.
* A) Debt cancellation:
* The Workshop reiterated the call for debt cancellation without
conditions imposed by the World Bank, the IMF or G8 countries.
This call is based on the historical origins of debt and the need to
address its structural causes. In addition, cancellation is the only
solution that addresses debt from a human development
perspective, contrary to failed conventional "solutions", including
the HIPC Initiative, that tend to focus on narrow economic and
financial criteria, such as "debt sustaianability".
* However, we need to ensure that resources released by any such
cancellation are used to address people's needs and not misused
by the governments in our countries.
* B) Debt repudiation:
* Given that the G 8 countries, the World Bank and the IMF are not
going to relinquish debt as an instrument of domination of their own
accord, the Workshop recommended that we increase our efforts to
persuade our countries to move toward a collective repudiation
Africa's debt.
* This entails taking the necessary steps toward getting the
governments of our countries to stop debt service payments.
Repudiation will only be successful if it is done collectively. We
must therefore develop the momentum toward repudiation across
the continent and together with our partners in the Global South
(Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, etc.)
* However, caution was expressed that we should take care that our
approach to governments to repudiate debt does not get misused
by undemocratic governments as a means to gain false legitimacy.
* Reparations:
* The workshop forcefully reiterated the position expresed in the
Bamako Declaration that the debt represents a Crime Against
Humanity and argued that the "creditors" be taken to task for their
crimes. We must step up our demand for reparations for all the
past and present damages caused by debt. In addition, we must
fight for reparations for damage caused by structural adjustment
policies and megaprojects, such as large dams, mining activity and
oil extraction. We must also demand reparations for the plundering
of our natural resources and the destruction of our environment.
* We need to look at the option of sueing the "creditors" for this
damage. In this regard, it was agreed to support the court case in
which Jubilee South Africa and the Khulumani Support Group are
demanding reparations from Northern banks and corporations for
their support for the Apartheid regime.
* C) Repatration of stolen wealth:
* The Workshop emphasized that the return of wealth stolen from our
countries by corrupt leaders and stashed in Northern banks is an
important aspect of f the overall solution to the debt crisis. Another
recommendation was that we should call on the people of our
continent who have developed skills and expertise and settled in
the North to return and avail their skills to the development of our
continent.
* D) Debt and neoliberalism:
* The workshop stressed the importance of locating our approach to
debt and reparations within a broader challenge to values, policies
and institutions of the neoliberal paradigm.
* It was noted that the World Bank, IMF and World Trade
Organisation (WTO) have adopted a policy of coherence between
their activities. We should also develop increased coordination in
our struggles against these institutions. This entails working more
closely with organizations and networks focusing either on broad
trade issues or exclusively on the WTO. In our opinion, these three
institutions, especially the IMF and the WTO, are illegitimate and
should be abolished.
* It was noted that one reason that the governments of our countries
continue to repay the debt is that they want to be seen as being
"responsible" and pursuing "sound policies" so as to attract foreign
direct investment (FDI). We need to enhance awareness of the
dangers associated with FDI and insist that solutions to Africa's
indebtedness should not be held hostage by misguided attempts to
attract FDI.
* We need to ensure that our information and education activities
include critiques of the neoliberal paradigm. The Workshop
recommended supporting campaigns and efforts to introduce taxes
on wealth, increase aid flows from the North to the South, with no
strings attached, renationalize privatized assets and reverse the
negative terms of trade and financial flows that are crippling the
African continent.
* Another major recommendation is the need to step up our efforts to
develop an alternative development paradigm to the neoliberal
global system. In that perspective, the Lagos Plan of Action (1980);
the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustement
Programs (AAF-SAPs, 1989); the Arusha Declaration (1990) and
other key documents can be the basis for developing a genuine
alternative development. These documents must be enriched by
the works of African researchers and institutions as well as the
experiences of the African people in their struggles for debt
cancellation; against the policies imposed by the IMF, the World
Bank, the WTO and the G 8 countries.
* III. STRATEGIES
* The workshop identified strategies towards implementing our
alternative solutions to the debt crisis at each of the national,
regional, continental and international levels.
* A) National level:
* Build the movement against debt and for reparations on the
ground
* Engage in a concerted drive to enhance literacy on economic
and debt issues
* Embark on signature campaigns, pamphleteering, debt
caravans and related cultural activities
* Develop alliances with other anti-neoliberal campaigns,
organizations and movements
* Support national campaigns in other countries
* There was extensive discussion on how we relate to the
governments in our countries. The workshop characterized the
governments on the continent as all too often being illiterate on
debt and related issues and as being "subcontractors" for the G 8,
the World Bank and the IMF.
* Various approaches were identified, with each being influenced by
the nature of each government:
* Find ways of working with the governments to influence their
policies
* Educate them on issues of debt, reparations and the neoliberal
paradigm
* Demand information from them on loans and debt
* Find ways to challenge them, protest and take other
appropriate forms of action
* Change undemocratic and dictatorial leaders and governments
* B) Regional and continental level:
* The workshop endorsed the need for coordinated regional and
continental action. It was agreed that we should work towards
common action on significant days:
* the 25th of May - African Liberation Day
* the 16th of June - Youth/Childrens Day (to commemorate the
Soweto Uprising, in 1976)
* the 16th of December (Zulu Victory over invading Boers, in
South Africa)
In addition, each country can choose a specific Day of Action.
Furthermore, recommendation was made to strengthening existing
national and sub-regional debt coalitions and set up others in
countries where they do not exist yet.
C) International level:
The Workshop recommended that more work be done to popularize
the findings and verdict of the International Debt Tribunal, held in
Porto Alegre in 2002, as a means of strengthening the campaigns
in our countries. It was also agreed that we must share the
conclusions from this workshop at the World Social Forum in Porto
Alegre, later this month.
Particular mention was made of strengthening our relationships
with our counterparts in Latin America given the depth of the debt
crisis in their countries and the need to work together to implement
our solutions.
There was also agreement to strengthen interaction with our
counterparts in the North. Particular mention was made of our
support for a drive to educate people in the United States on debt
issues. The drive is initiated by the African Friends Service
Committee (AFSC), whose representative exposed an action plan
during the Workshop.
There was discussion on other proposals regarding solutions to the
debt crisis, such as an international arbitration mechanism and an
international debt/development fund. Different points of view were
expressed on those proposals. The consensus was that these
issues need further debate before reaching any conclusions.
It was recognized that, in the time available, it was not possible to
develop a more detailed strategy, and that the commitment
expressed to put debt and reparations firmly back on the agenda
requires this to be done. It was agreed that we should look for the
means to hold a more in-depth continental Strategy Workshop or,
if this proves not to be feasible, Strategy Workshops in each of our
regions.
In conclusion, the Workshop recommendations can be summarized
as follows:
* In addition to being illegitimate, odious and immoral,
Africa's debt has been paid many times over
* It is Africa that is owed an immense historical debt as well
as a debt for failed IMF/WB projects
* Debt is used as an instrument of domination and plunder of
Africa's resources
* The only solution to the debt crisis is its cancellation
without external conditions
* The need to mobilize for a collective repudiation of debt
* The total rejection of the HIPC Initiative, PRSPs and all
other IMF/WB policies
* The need to put the debt issue in the broader context of the
neoliberal global system
* The solutions to Africa's debt and development problems
are in Africa and nowhere else
* The formulation of an alternative development paradigm
should rely on some key documents that should be updated
and enriched by research and struggles of the past two
decades
* The need to strengthen our solidarity with our partners of
the South and our cooperation with Northern partners on
the basis of our vision and priorities.
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