UPDATE ON THE CCJP/JCTR DEBT PROJECT
JANUARY 2000

The following is a brief update of the CCJP/JCTR Debt Project activities over the past several months.

The Jubilee 2000 Zambia Campaign is part of the CCJP/JCTR Debt Project. The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) and the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) co-operate on many issues of social justice and peace as embodied in the church's social teachings.

• Launched a major Ecumenical effort comprising the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) to spearhead the Jubilee 2000 Campaign. In August 1998 these church bodies published a special ecumenical letter calling for debt cancellation. The Ecumenical Committee has been instrumental in information dissemination about Jubilee and the debt related issues to their respective members.

• Held a major Jubilee 2000 National Event on 22 May 1999 in six cities across Zambia (report is available).

• Presented 300,000 signatures to the G-7 leaders at the Cologne Summit in June 1999.These signatures (45% of them from rural areas) were from Zambians calling for total debt cancellation for the country.

• Gathered 4000 " postcards" and sent to IMF and World Bank officials and donor representatives to petition cancellation for Zambia.

• Held a 1999 Briefing/Strategising meeting with local NGOs in Zambia in August. The NGOs agreed on how they could fully involve themselves in the Debt Project, especially on the role they would play as members of civil society in monitoring freed resources from debt cancellation.

• Co-sponsored in May 1999 a regional conference in Lusaka at which African countries issued a declaration rejecting HIPC and ESAF and prepared a "consensus" for the Cologne Summit.

• Presented numerous newspaper, magazine, television, and radio analyses on the Zambian debt situation, especially on the impact on the poor, and on the call for debt cancellation.

• Participated at the south-south summit in South Africa from 16 to 21 November. This was to draw stronger relations with nations in the south.

• Participated at the Eurodad seminar in order to assess the likely impact of the current IMF/WB revelations

• Initiating debates in various secondary schools around Lusaka to create awareness among pupils on the debt problem. The Debt Project is cooperating with a Debate League to hold competitions for speakers on the debt issues.

• Working on a "Debt Management Mechanism" with a view to putting in place a body which will be charged with the full responsibility of monitoring debt cancellation and the direction of freed resources into poverty eradication programmes.

• Continuing public education about debt issues and gathering signatures for debt cancellation.

• Posting on our web site articles from the Debt Project and circulating materials through e-mail.

• Co-operating with international partners of Jubilee 2000 to gather support for Zambian debt cancellation.

• Prepare educational materials in simple vernacular languages in order to cover a wider section of the Zambian population.

• Prepare a Radio Drama, in vernacular languages, which will tell the story also to rural communities in Zambia.

• Use simple and readable cartoons as a way of putting the debt message across to the nation.

• Sponsor a conference at the start of 2000, to evaluate the progress of the Jubilee 2000 campaign.

• Explore possibilities for local conferences outside Lusaka to promote awareness and involvement across the country.

• Initiate research work on Zambia's apartheid caused debt.

Tuesday, January 04, 2000

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