[asia-apec 1408] SIGN-ON: Demands to IMF/World Bank - April 3, 2000 Deadline

[Anuradha Mittal]

SIGN-ON: Demands to IMF/World Bank - April 3, 2000 Deadline

[This is a call for endorsements of demands that 50 Years Is Enough 
Network is making to the World Bank and IMF in relation to their 
semi-annual meetings in April.  We encourage broad circulation and 
sign-ons by ORGANIZATIONS supporting the mobilization and/or who support 
global socio-economic justice.]

Please return it to: demands50years at yahoo.com 
<mailto:demands50years at yahoo.com>.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND RESPONSES TO THE LISTSERV!

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50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice

OUR DEMANDS OF THE IMF AND WORLD BANK
March/April 2000

On the occasion of the first meetings of the governing bodies of the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the 21st century, we 
call for the immediate suspension of the policies and practices that 
have caused widespread poverty, inequality, and suffering among the 
world's peoples and damage to the world's environment. We assert the 
responsibility of these anti-democratic institutions, together with the 
World Trade Organization, for an unjust world economic system.  We note 
that these institutions are controlled by wealthy governments, and that 
their policies have benefited international private sector financiers, 
transnational corporations, and
corrupt officials.

We issue this call in the name of global justice, in solidarity with the 
peoples of the Global South and the former "Soviet bloc" countries who 
struggle for survival and dignity in the face of unjust, imperialistic 
economic policies.  We stand in solidarity too with the millions in the 
wealthy countries of the Global North who have borne the burden of 
"globalization" policies and been subjected to policies that mirror 
those imposed on the South.

Only when the coercive powers of the international financial 
institutions are rescinded shall governments be accountable first and 
foremost to the will of their peoples.  Only when a system that 
allocates power chiefly to the wealthiest nations for the purpose of 
dictating the policies of the poorer ones is reversed shall nations and 
their peoples be able to forge bonds - economic and otherwise - based on 
mutual respect and the common needs of the planet and its inhabitants. 
Only when integrity is restored to economic development, and both the 
corrupter and the corrupted held accountable, shall the people begin to 
have confidence in the decisions that affect their communities.  Only 
when the well-being of all, including the
most vulnerable people and ecosystems, is given priority over corporate 
profits shall we achieve genuine sustainable development and create a 
world of justice, equality, and peace where fundamental human rights, 
including social and economic rights, can be respected.

With these ends in mind, we make the following demands of those meeting 
in Washington April 16-19, 2000 for the semi-annual meetings of the 
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund:

1.  That the IMF and World Bank cancel all debts owed them.  Any funds 
required for this purpose should come from positive net capital and 
assets held by those institutions.

2.  That the IMF and World Bank immediately cease imposing the economic 
austerity measures known as structural adjustment and/or other 
macroeconomic "reform," which have exacerbated poverty and inequality, 
as conditions of loans, credits, or debt relief.  This requires both the 
suspension of those conditions in existing programs and an abandonment 
of any version of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative 
which is founded on the concept of  debt relief for policy reform.

3.  That the IMF and World Bank accept responsibility for the disastrous 
impact of structural adjustment policies by paying reparations to the 
peoples and communities who have borne that impact.  These funds should 
come from the institutions' positive net capital and assets, and should 
be distributed through  democratically-determined mechanisms.

4.  That the World Bank Group pay reparations to peoples relocated and 
otherwise harmed by its large projects (such as dams) and compensate 
governments for repayments made on projects which World Bank evaluations 
rank as economic failures.  A further evaluation should determine which 
World Bank projects have failed on social, cultural, and environmental 
grounds, and appropriate compensation paid.  The funds for these 
payments should come from the institutions' positive net capital and 
assets, and should be distributed through democratically-determined 
mechanisms.

5.  That the World Bank Group immediately cease providing advice and
resources through its division* devoted to private-sector investments to 
advance the goals associated with corporate globalization, such as
privatization and liberalization, and that private-sector investments
currently held be liquidated to provide funds for the reparations 
demanded above.

6.  That the agencies and individuals within the World Bank Group and 
IMF complicit in abetting corruption, as well as their accomplices in 
borrowing countries, be prosecuted, and that those responsible, 
including the institutions involved, provide compensation for resources 
stolen and damage done.

7.  That the future existence, structure, and policies of international 
institutions such as the World Bank Group and the IMF be determined 
through a democratic, participatory and transparent process.  The 
process must accord full consideration of the interests of the peoples 
most affected by the policies and practices of the institutions, and 
include a significant role for all parts of civil society.

The accession to these demands would require the institutions' directors 
to accept and act on the need for fundamental transformation.  It is 
possible that the elimination of these institutions will be required for 
the realization of global economic and political justice.

We commit to work towards the defunding of the IMF and World Bank by
opposing further government allocations to them (in the form of either 
direct contributions or the designation of collateral) and supporting 
campaigns such as a boycott of World Bank bonds until these demands have 
been met.

*The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is a division of the World 
Bank Group.  Also included is the Multilateral Investment Guaranty 
Agency (MIGA), which insures private investments in Southern countries.

SIGNED:

50 Years Is Enough Network
Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) - Cape Town, South 
Africa
Anti Debt Coalition - Indonesia
Campaign Against Neo-Liberalism in South Africa (CANSA) - Johannesburg, 
South Africa
Campaign for Labor Rights - Washington, DC
Ecumenical Support Services - Harare, Zimbabwe
Focus on the Global South - Bangkok, Thailand
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy - Oakland, CA (USA)
Freedom from Debt Coalition - Manila, Philippines
Global Exchange - San Francisco, CA (USA)
Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project - Washington, DC
Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign - London, UK
Jubilee 2000 Afrika Campaign (USA) - Pittsburgh, PA
Jubilee 2000 South Africa - Cape Town, South Africa
Kenya Action Network - Washington, DC (USA)
Kenya Human Rights Commission - Nairobi, Kenya
LALIT - Port Louis, Mauritius
Nicaragua Network - Washington, DC (USA)
NICCA - Oakland, CA (USA)
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt & Development - Harare, Zimbabwe
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