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Newswire on the IFIs
- Ghana: Prof Akilagpa slams World Bank, IMF policies
- The Day After: Europe Rejects Austerity
- Uganda: World Bank under attack for aiding land grabs
- Brazil's Lula slams rich countries and IMF
- Fair rules on debt: developing countries try to force the IMF's hand
- Action Aid report faults IMF for fuelling poverty in Sierra Leone
Poll
On April 26th, NSI President, Roy Culpeper, and KAIROS Canada's Global Economic Justice Coordinator, presented their views on the issues raised by the Government’s annual report on the Bretton Woods Organizations (the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank) before members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (SFAIT). The meeting was called by the Standing Committee in response to a request by the Halifax Initiative Coalition.
Halifax Initiative coalition submission to the 1999 Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Debt Initiative Review and Consultation
- Phase one
- Phase two
For pdf, click here.
The Hon. David Emerson
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A OG2
October 10, 2008
Re.: Canadian priorities leading up to the Doha Financing for Development Review.
Dear Minister Emerson:
KAIROS Statement on Global Day of Action Against Debt Domination
Dec. 8, 2004
Developing countries’ debts reached US$2.4 trillion at the end of 2003, almost four and a half times as much as what they owed in 1980 on the eve of the international debt crisis. Since then developing countries have paid about nine and a half dollars in debt service for every dollar owed in 1980. New loans have been used primarily to roll over old debts, rather than for meaningful investments in human or economic development.
As KAIROS observes the second annual day of action against unjust and illegitimate debts, we renew our call for the elimination of debts that have already been paid many times over. We also demand the release of impoverished countries from disastrous Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed by their creditors.
Executive Summary
2010 will be a decisive year for Canada, and for the world. The deadline for meeting the world’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is only five years away. Our decisions on economic reform and climate change will determine the success of world’s efforts to reduce poverty and reverse dangerous global warming for the next generation and beyond. As host of the next G8 and G20 Summits, Canada can make the difference between relegating these aspirations to a distant hope in an uncertain future and confirming the possibility of achieving these goals in our lifetime. The consequences of reneging on our promises are unthinkable for the millions around the world looking towards a new model of globalization that is socially responsible, economically sustainable and environmentally just.
A Focus on Poverty, Economic Reform and Climate Change
In 2010 Canada will play host to the world. The Vancouver Olympics and the G8 and G20 Summits in Muskoka and Toronto will draw the attention of millions to Canada, its geography, its values, policies and practices. If 2008 was the year of China, then 2010 can be the year of Canada. Around the globe, Canadians proudly sport the Canadian flag in traveling as a symbol of Canadian democracy, openness and concern for human rights. Yet our great international achievements of the past—Canadian contributions to the establishment of international peacekeeping, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines and the International Criminal Court—are today clouded by concerns about Canada’s current role in climate change negotiations, Afghanistan, reform of the global economy and addressing global poverty.
