Jubilee Oregon E-Newsletter

May 4, 2009

---

 

Jubilee Oregon Welcomes Archbishop Desmond Tutu!

 

Copyright: David Frackelton

Jubilee Oregon was pleased to receive Archbishop Desmond Tutu at our monthly board meeting today. Archbishop Tutu, the father of the Jubilee movement, stopped by on the way to his  scheduled engagements to offer a few words of encouragement and reflection.

Archbishop Tutu’s remarks were hopeful and tempered with realism. Emphatic in his belief that no one can win the war against terrorism, the Archbishop also noted that, if we reduced our war expenditure, we could spend more money on feeding the hungry across the world. This, he posited, is not charity nor merely kindness—it is our responsibility if we are to be the good stewards of the world that God has created for all of us.

It seems safe to say that everyone present was buoyed by the Archbishop’s wisdom, humor and humility. Jubilee Oregon thanks Archbishop Tutu and his son, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, and all of the Congressional staffers and member congregation representatives who were present.

 

Prayer in Appreciation of Archbishop Tutu’s Visit

 

Rev. Chris Laing and Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Photo Copyright: David Frackelton

One God of many holy Names, we give thanks for THIS day—

For the chance to receive & share your justice, peace & boundless love

To know and practice life’s Sabbath rhythm and prepare for the joy of Jubilee justice to come in our midst on earth…

Thank you for Bishop Desmond’s visit in Oregon …

May he find your strength to share his many gifts as we give thanks for the full range of his ministry, not least in the work of founding the Jubilee movement for debt cancellation.

May we and many more find grace to live in the community that makes friends of enemies and renews the face of the earth for all generations to come,

In Christ’s name.

______________________________________________________________________

 

Ecumenical Advocacy Days: National, Faith-Based Activism Against Climate Change

by Annah Sidigu

Each year the Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) conference brings together faith-based activists from around the country to the nation’s capitol. The setting is strategic—participants take what they learned from the conference directly to Capitol Hill by lobbying their elected officials.

Jubilee Oregon was fortunate to take part in this year’s EAD conference, which focused on climate change. Environmental activists and professionals Eunice Kamaara of Kenya, Leo Atakpu of Nigeria, and Sister Claudine Dumbi of the Democratic Republic shared how climate change is impacting their local communities. The conference also hosted U.S. presenters who shared a diversity of perspectives about the domestic front of the movement against climate change.

A recurring theme from African presenters was that climate change exacerbates or creates conflicts by making already scarce resources—such as, water, arable land or food—even more scarce.

However, presenters also noted that “fixing” the environment will not solve everything. For nations in Africa plagued by what is known as the “resource curse”—that is, an abundance of natural resources or of a natural resource like oil or coltan—a resource-rich environment is both good and bad news. As we have seen time and time again, the discovery of oil is often a precursor to conflict. This is particularly true when the government system in place is either fragile or authoritarian. Along with activism against climate change, we must continue to press for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and to agitate against any institutions that violate human rights.

Jubilee Oregon believes that freedom from poverty is a universal human right and is committed to tackling one of the purveyors of extreme poverty—an international finance system that preys upon the world’s poor.

The EAD Conference enabled us and our allies to draw clear connections between climate change, environmental justice, and issues of class and gender. Since the environment belongs to all of us and cannot be neatly divided up according to interest group, these are the kind of connections that will be necessary to wage an effective battle against climate change.

A multi-frontal battle against climate change requires that we—that is, those of us in developed countries who benefit from their activities and those of us in the developing countries in which they operate—hold financial institutions, governments, multinational corporations and other key players accountable. Toward this end, groups involved in the EAD conference—groups like Jubilee USA, Africa Action, the Africa Faith and Justice Network, Publish What You Pay, and the No Dirty Gold Campaign—are fighting for increased accountability and transparency.

After two days of workshops, conference participants lobbied members of Congress to support the collective goals of the EAD network, namely:

1. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and work for long-term reductions that are at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
2. To provide substantial new funding for international adaptation to climate change—funding that will target the most vulnerable communities domestically and internationally, such as indigenous, coastal and low-income communities in the U.S. and the poorest or most heavily indebted countries in the world.
3. To assist and welcome climate migrants or environmental refugees.

Thanks to the support of Jubilee USA, Jubilee Oregon was able to be part of this important national dialogue. We want to make the most of all that we learned and so we urge our supporters to join us in taking the following concrete actions against climate change:

• Join Congressman Earl Blumenauer in Supporting the CLEAN TEA Bill!
• Support the Extractive Industries Transparency Disclosure Act!
• Support the No Dirty Gold Campaign!

 

_____________________________________________________________________

  

Remember world’s poor: A Letter to the Oregonian

by Robert Brown

Although we are aware of the impact and consequences of the economic crisis in the developed world, many are unaware of how the economic crisis is affecting the world’s most vulnerable people. Because of the shenanigans of the Western world’s financial institutions, 53 million more people will join the ranks of the poorest — those earning less than $2 a day.

While it is understandable that we focus on the problems in our own backyard, we cannot ignore the problems of the poorest countries.

President Barack Obama campaigned and promised leadership in the fight against global poverty. The G-20 Summit was a perfect venue for the president to demonstrate his leadership in this area.

We must see an increase in foreign assistance as a stimulus to the poorest countries. This will go a long way toward reducing the impact of this crisis on the world’s poorest.

We must also see proposals to change the policies of the International Monetary Fund, since its policies have caused much hardship in the developing world.

Finally, I hope to see expanded debt relief and grants as the most effective means of enabling developing countries to provide basic services. Debt relief works. Through debt relief, Tanzania has increased the number of children in primary school by more than 50percent, built 2,500 new schools and hired thousands of new teachers.

ROBERT BROWN
Southwest Portland

Note: We are pleased to report that Robert Brown’s letter was published by The Oregonian on Sunday, April 5, 2009

 

G20 – Let’s help poor countries: A Letter to the Oregonian

by Pat Rumer

I teach a PSU senior Capstone – Ending Global Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals.  Goal 8 calls on the industrialized nations to cancel debt, increase foreign assistance and reduce trade barriers.

President Barack Obama promised leadership in the fight against global poverty, including reform of the IMF and World Bank. The G-20 meeting is an important moment for the President to act on his campaign promises to assist people living in extreme poverty.

The G20 group is considering an increase in funding for the IMF to assist low income developing countries hard hit by the economic crisis.  But the IMF should not be given a blank check without requiring some serious reforms in the policy advice that the IMF gives and the harsh conditions it imposes on poor countries.

The IMF loan conditions have led to declines in school enrollment, closure of rural health clinics and privatization of water. The IMF’s own evaluation unit found that IMF policies in Sub Saharan Africa in the last twenty years have failed.

The G20 nations should not entrust the IMF to help poor countries. The G20 should support debt cancellation and grants to developing nations.  The IMF has a massive gold reserve and sales of just 1/8^th of the reserves could be used to fund $10 billion in poor country debt relief.  Let’s do the right thing!

______________________________________________________________________

 

 

World Water Day 2009

 

Portland Roasting Coffee Company thanks everyone who joined us on Sunday, March 22nd for the first annual World Water Day celebration in Portland. We raised more  than $28,000 for Water for All. Nearly 300 people participated in the walk.

Thank you and please save the date for World Water Day 2010~ Monday, March 22nd!

______________________________________________________________________

 

 

Jubilee Oregon: A Glimpse of Who’s Who

Jubilee Oregon is one of the most active chapters of Jubilee USA—a reputation that we are committed to upholding. We are comprised of a Board of Directors, 18 member congregations and individual volunteers. In addition, our electronic mailing list reaches 1,000 people. As you will see from the bios below, our Board members share a history of community activism and a commitment to global social justice.

Robert Brown

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Brown is a long time resident of Oregon and a citizen activist with organizational development experience from his previous employment at Intel Corp. He was trained as a community organizer by the Industrial Areas Foundation. For the past eight years, Bob has led his congregation’s social action activities. His current priorities include Oregon health care reform and reducing global poverty. Bob is a board member of Jubilee Oregon, Oregon New Sanctuary Movement and Oregon Health Action Campaign. You can reach him at rebrown47@gmail.com or at 503-244-3304.

 

Patricia Rumer

 

Patricia Rumer founded Jubilee 2000 in Oregon in early 1999.  Jubilee’s first public action was to surround the federal court house in downtown Portland to demonstrate “break the chains of debt.”  Cards and letters were handed to a representative of Congressman David Wu’s office at the event.

In 2001 Jubilee 2000 became the Jubilee USA Network and thus, Jubilee Oregon is the local chapter.  Pat has served on the national board of Jubilee USA Network since 2005 and as co-chair until November, 2008.  She and other board members make presentations, table at international events and regularly visit Members of Congress.  She is particularly proud of the fact that the entire Oregon Congressional delegation signed on as co-sponsors to the 2008 Jubilee ACT and we will do it again this year!!

Pat teaches a senior Capstone at Portland State University on Ending Global Poverty:  MDG’s, Debt Cancellation and Citizen Advocacy.  She loves to travel and to bike.

In the next e-newsletter, we will feature two more members of the Jubilee Oregon family. Stay posted!

To join Jubilee Oregon, email us at jubileeoregon@gmail.com or give us a call at 503-702-3424. You can stay current on Jubilee’s work in Oregon by visiting us at www.jubileeoregon.wordpress.com and at the national level by visiting www.jubileeusa.org.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

ADVOCACY NEWS

by Bob Brown

The Jubilee act in 2009

Jubilee USA is working with Representatives Barney Franks and Maxine Waters to add language to the Bill to support an international framework for responsible lending. This new language will strengthen the bill and will be consistent with the Jubilee strategy. Since Congress is currently in recess, we expect the bill to be introduced in May.

Activities have been slow on the Senate side primarily because there are still appointments that have not been filled in Treasury. We are waiting for the confirmation of Lael Brainard from the Brookings Institution as the Under-secretary of Treasury for International Development.

Vulture Funds

The language for the Vulture Funds Bill has been finalized by Representative Maxine Waters. Representative Bacchus has signed on as a co-sponsor and other co-sponsorships are needed. We hope that vulture fund legislation will be an easy win since there has been much discussion about hedge fund reform as a result of the G‑20 Summit. Expect some advocacy campaign in the near future to support vulture fund legislation.

IMF/Gold Sales – Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is continuing forward with its gold sales. The sales will establish an endowment that would fund the IMF’s administrative costs. Jubilee USA and others have requested that part of the proceeds of any sale of gold be applied to directly to debt relief. At the G-20 Summit, the US proposed providing funding to the IMF and gold sales was part of that proposal. We expect Republicans to be opposed to any allocation of IMF money for debt relief. This means that proponents for IMF funding will want to work with Jubilee to ensure money is allocated. <!–[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 <![endif]–> There will be grassroots advocacy to ensure that a portion of the money generated from the IMF gold sales will be used for foreign aid in the form of debt relief.

 

 

______________________________________________________________________

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

 

JUBILEE 101: 2009 SPRING TRAINING WORKSHOP

TUESDAY- MAY 19^TH

6PM-9PM

ST. ANDREW’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

805 NE ALBERTA ST.

*Learn about world debt!

*Learn about harmful world economic policies!

*Learn how to teach others about world debt!

*Empower & Take Action!

 

Please RSVP to jubileeoregon@gmail.com by May 15!

 

 

 

◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙ ◙

 

 

June 27, 2009

12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

World Forestry Center

Sponsored by the Harambee Center and the World Forestry Center.

 

 

Jubilee Oregon will be sharing information on debt cancellation at this event.