Religions for Peace to the G20: Debt Relief Cannot Wait

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Religions for Peace, the world’s largest multi-religious organisations with affiliated multi-religious leadership platforms in 90 countries and 6 regions, joined 217 of the largest religious, labour, human rights, development and environmental institutions by signing Jubilee USA’s letter to the G20 ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting.

This past Saturday, 18 July, G20 Finance Ministers met virtually on the crippling global health and economic impacts of the coronavirus. A communiqué issued by the Ministers deterred decisions and urgently needed action on debt relief until later in the year.

The letter, signed by 217 institutions, calls for a debt standstill for developing countries, more aid for countries, new processes to prevent financial crisis and measures that confront tax evasion and corruption.

“Like no amount of persuasive words and numbers have succeeded before, the COVID-19 crisis strips the masks off the world’s deepest inequalities and unfairness. It demands urgent action, inspired by a clear moral sense. The remarkable network that Religions for Peace represents offers a thoughtful and demanding voice. Its priority is to meet the immediate and urgent needs of vulnerable communities by moving swiftly with the proposed debt standstill and by astute attention to protecting human rights,” says Dr. Katherine Marshall, a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

Coronavirus has shown the world that, in the absence of government resources, the world’s religious communities step onto the frontlines of crises to meet the needs of their constituencies. Religions for Peace has been working to combine and amplify the resources and expertise of diverse religious communities through multi-religious initiatives providing supplies for the most vulnerable and getting accurate health guidance to remote regions.

“While these multi-religious responses to the pandemic are cost-effective and efficient, they are all too often compensating for a lack of government resources in countries unable to meet the needs of their citizens due to the crippling burden of debt,” noted Prof. Dr. Azza Karam, Secretary General of Religions for Peace and expert in multi-religious action for peace, development and human rights. “In this time of global crises, the world’s religious communities are imploring global leaders to prioritise human dignity over debt payments.”

Religions for Peace supports Jubilee USA’s petition, and also calls on governments and the private sector to invest in the cost-effective, transparent, and efficient multi-religious initiatives working across the world to provide the most vulnerable with need supplies and information; curbing the impact of the coronavirus, while fostering resilience and cooperation among diverse religious and ethnic communities for the procurement of the SDGs.

Religions for Peace commits to strengthening its global, multi-religious advocacy for economic relief and support to developing nations and encourages religious institutions to continue playing a lead role in advocating for bold action to reduce the burden of debt.