Ayanna

=Ayanna=

[|New York Times, "Can the Cell Phone End Global Poverty?"]

The JUBILEE ACT: specifically designed to talk about debt relief [|http://www.jubileeusa.org/]

The ONE organization tackles many different aspects of global issues. Debt is an issue on their agenda and suggests a couple of solutions [|www.one.org]

__Background:__
 * Sub-Saharan Africa owes approximately between 245-300 billion dollars(??)
 * Most of the money is owed to:
 * rich country governments
 * international organizations including the world bank, IMF, and the African Development bank
 * Private sector lenders

__Causes of Debt:__
 * Inadequate access to employment options
 * Inadequate physical options such as land and capital
 * Poor access to the means of supporting a rural environment
 * Low endowment of human capital
 * Destruction of natural resources leading to environmental degradation and reduced productivity
 * Lack of participation à failure to develop programs that will help reduce poverty

-The structural adjustment measures, global, unregulated free markets and lack of protection for emerging economies all contributed to the global economic and financial crisis in the late 1990s -Debt is killing children -As countries are diverting resources away from social provisions to repay debt, those most affected are the poor (especially women and children) -The more the developing countries stay in debt, the more they will feel the need to take up the earth’s resources for the cash that they can bring in, and also cut back on social, health, environmental conservation, employment, and other programs -Responding to environmental disasters is also more difficult when a country is in severe debt
 * Debt in the global economy**
 * Debt in the environment**

__Money Alternatives- If the debt was relieved…__
 * Basic health-care and education would be the main focuses
 * Paving roads in rural areas would also reduce poverty

__Programs that already exist:__
 * The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) is the min organization
 * In order to qualify, countries have to be very poor and have a very heavy debt burden
 * They also have to maintain economic stability and produce a strategy for reducing poverty
 * There are different points known as the:
 * The “Completion point” à the end of the HIPC process
 * The “decision point” à when debt relief starts to kick in
 * The Eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were signed by 147 countries at the United Nations in 2000
 * The G8 Summit-promised debt relief on some poor countries in Africa as well as action on climate change

__Possible Solutions:__ · R educe the debt payment burden that is draining much-needed foreign exchange that could otherwise be used by debtor countries for health care, education, housing and other needed services; · A ddress the crying need for capital and empowerment at the grassroots in developing countries; 1. Eradicate poverty and extreme hunger (reduce by ½ those living on a dollar a day and by ½ the number of people suffering from hunger) 2. Achieve personal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women 4. Reduce child mortality (by 2/3 of those under 5) 5. Improve maternal health 6. Combat malaria, HIV/AIDS and other diseases 7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop a global partnership for development
 * The 8 MDG’s were:

-In sub-Saharan Africa, 40 percent of the population live on less than one US dollar a day -45-50% live below the poverty line -Infant mortality is about 93 per 1000 infants which is the highest in the world -30,000 children die each day due to poverty which is just under 11 million children each year -14,000 people are being infected with HIV/AIDS daily -11,000 people are dying daily due to HIV/AIDS or related illnesses -Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 70% of the poorest people in the world -SSA has the lowest GDP of the world
 * A Look at poverty in SSA:

à Goals/Strategies: The ONE Organizations Goals: -Raise public awareness about the issues on global poverty -publish educational information -Mobilize people across the country to expand awareness on certain issues The goals they have for poverty:
 * The Highly indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative
 * Cancels most bilateral debt and some multilateral debt after countries adopt IMF and world bank supported economic and governance reform programs
 * Designed to ensure that the assistance is directed to country-owned poverty alleviation priorities
 * Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)
 * The JUBILEE ACT
 * Extend bilateral and multilateral debt cancellation to all impoverished countries that require it to meet the MDG without imposing harmful economic conditions so they can invest their own resources in development and break the cycle of extreme poverty.
 * The ONE campaign will work to increase co-sponsorship for the bill and will assist the Jubilee network in securing a congressional hearing on the JUBILEE ACT

à Success stories:
 * Tanzania has used its savings from debt relief to increase education spending and eliminate school fees. Almost overnight, an estimated 1.6 million children enrolled in school. By 2003, 3.1 million additional children were attending school
 * Mozambique used its debt service savings to vaccinate children against tetanus, whooping cough and diphtheria, as well as build and electrify schools
 * Nigeria is using $750 million in debt service savings from 2006 to train and recruit new teachers
 * Cameroon used its debt savings to launch a national HIV/AIDS plan for prevention, education, testing and mother-to-child transmission abatement

à Challenges:
 * The ONE campaign is organized and operated exclusively for charitable and educational purposes with the means of the internal revenue code of 1986

à Use of technology and financing: N/A