On 1 January Pope Francis repeated his call for action on the global debt crisis, saying, “In the spirit of this Jubilee Year, I urge the international community to work towards forgiving foreign debt….This is an appeal for solidarity, but above all for justice.”
54 countries are in ‘debt distress’, meaning that governments are paying such high sums in debt payments that they are unable to properly fund schools, hospitals or other public services. Often, countries have already repaid their debts once, but due to unscrupulous lenders and exorbitant interest rates, they are left paying many times over.
This Jubilee Year, let’s respond to Pope Francis’s call and take action to solve the global debt crisis. People all around the world are signing the global Church petition.
Kenya is one of these countries. As activist Kiama Kaara tells us, the human toll has been devastating, manifesting in “the struggle, pain, and tears that the Kenyan people face every waking day… as roads collapse and children die in hospitals that can no longer access medicine.”
The Biblical concept of Jubilee calls for periodic debt cancellation to restore justice and human dignity.
We know that our government are open to taking action on this issue, so we need to put the pressure on. Please add your name.
To ensure your email newsletter reaches you every time, add [email protected] to your address book or contacts list. We protect your privacy and don’t share personal data with third parties. Read our privacy notice here.
