Per la cancellazione del debito dei Pvs

La Fondazione MAGIS, insieme ad altre opere/province della Compagnia di Gesù, sottoscrive la lettera di cancellazione del debito pubblico contratto dai Paesi in via di sviluppo, lettera indirizzata alla Banca Mondiale e al Fondo Monetario Internazionale. Una cifra enorme che pesa come un macigno sullo sviluppo di Africa, Asia e America latina, un debito che costringe alla fame milioni di persone condannate alla povertà e ad un futuro di sofferenze.

Di seguito il testo della lettera in inglese.

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Dear World Bank and International Monetary Fund, 

We write in a spirit of solidarity and hope as representatives of Christian communities from all corners of the globe. 

Each of us has borne witness to the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the most vulnerable members of our communities through illness, death, hunger and loss of livelihoods. We live and work every day with those who are suffering and share their hopes and fears for the future. 

Both of your organisations have acknowledged the devastation the pandemic is causing. The World Bank has warned the pandemic “threatens to push over 100 million people into extreme poverty and is exacerbating inequality throughout the world” and has urged governments and private creditors to suspend and reduce debts, whilst the International Monetary Fund has recognised that “many countries now face multiple crises – a health crisis, a financial crisis, and a collapse in commodity prices”. 

As our governments do all they can to respond to the pandemic, we witness the ongoing injustice that the money so desperately needed for medicines, personal protective equipment, emergency food supplies and social safety nets is still being diverted to debt repayments. 

As such, we ask you to show courageous leadership at this critical moment and cancel debts owed by developing countries to your institutions for the duration of this crisis. Debt cancellation is the most immediate way to release the finance required to prevent millions of our sisters and brothers being needlessly pushed into poverty by the pandemic. 

Our call echoes that from Christian leaders worldwide. In his message to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Creation of Creation, His Holiness Pope Francis urged “the cancellation of the debt of the most vulnerable countries, in recognition of the severe impacts of the medical, social and economic crises they face as a result of Covid-19”. We are aware that dozens of faith leaders earlier this year have similarly urged governments and the International Monetary Fund itself to cancel debts.  

To date, your institutions have taken several steps to respond to the crisis, including the IMF’s decision to cover debt payments owed over a six-month period for 28 countries, as well as the availability of new emergency finance from the IMF and World Bank worth $88 billion thus far. 

Yet these initiatives, though welcome, are insufficient and do not respond to the urgency and magnitude of the crisis. Without the cancellation of debts, there remains a grave risk that developing countries will not have the money so desperately and urgently needed to halt the spread of the virus, to treat people suffering from the virus and to mitigate and recover from the economic and social destruction threatened by the virus. 

Both of your institutions hold significant reserves in US dollars and in gold, which are held for such a time as this. It is therefore essential that these reserves are used to relieve the burden of debts for countries in precarious need. 

The role of the IMF and World Bank is central to tackling this crisis in a way that prioritises the needs of the most vulnerable people, learns from the past and seeks to heal and rebuild our world. 

As you meet next week, we continue to pray for you and remain committed to ongoing cooperation.