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NEWSLETTER – SPRING
2010 Website: www.wtj.org.uk FRIDAY
12th MARCH 2010 7.30pm at St
Michael’s Church Hall, Gills Lane, Pensby, CH61 1AF ‘HAITI
EARTHQUAKE – THE
AFTERMATH…’ Come
and hear Marcus Torchon. Sharing
his experience with us of his recent fact finding mission to Haiti. This
is a unique opportunity to hear first hand of the reality of life
for those affected. We
expect a large turnout for this event, so don’t miss out! Reverend Marcus Torchon is a local Methodist minister, covering churches in Neston, Little Neston & Bromborough, currently here on an exchange programme till 2011, with his wife Sylvia and son, Jean de Luc. Marcus is a Haiti national whose immediate family were caught up in the recent devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince. Fresh from his visit, come and hear Marcus update us on the current situation in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, as it slowly starts to re-build its economy and infrastructure. And speak of his hopes of forging solidarity with his fellow Haitians, and establishing links between groups and organisations over in his home country, and here. Please publicise this event as
widely as possible, using the poster on the last page In the midst of
all this, however, Haiti’s economy is still facing the enormous
burden of its ongoing debt crisis. But
thanks to action taken by
thousands of people in the UK and across the world, the G7 announced
on 6 February that it would work to cancel all of Haiti’s debts. This
is a welcome statement,
but we need to keep up pressure to make sure debt relief is
delivered. As the spotlight on Haiti starts to fade, the promise of
debt cancellation might become less of a priority – or even turn
into a bad deal for Haiti.
VULTURE FUNDS - Jack Heery Most people,
when they are told about Vulture Funds, simply can’t believe their
ears. Can you believe
this? Zambia bought some tractors on credit from Romania in 1979 for
$15m; after years of default the debt with interest stood at $30m in
1999; Zambia was then about to agree with Romania to have the debt
discharged for $3m; Donegal International stepped in and bought the
debt for $3.3m; the debt then stood at $55m which they claimed in
full in a British court; the court awarded Donegal International
$15m which has now been paid using money that has come from aid
budgets designed to reduce poverty. There are many
such cases, some completed in the Vulture Funds’ favour and others
currently going through the courts. We had a discussion about
Vulture Funds at the AGM and the meeting passed a resolution (in
full on the web-site) which we sent to Wirral MPs and to the
government asking them to do something about the way the British
legal system is being abused by these funds to wring the last drop
out of some of the poorest countries in the world. A private
members bill, introduced by Labour MP, Andrew Gwynne, was put before
the House of Commons on Friday 26 February for its second reading.
The support and votes of 100 MPs were needed, with no votes against.
If successful,
there is a chance that the worst excesses of the Vulture Funds’
activities may be reduced if the legislative process can be
completed before the General Election.
Keep the pressure on your MP to make sure that something
happens –contact them here: http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
At the time of
this going to print, the result of that second reading was still
awaited. (See the website for the latest bad news.) Follow what the
outcome was here: http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/ We must keep the
pressure up at least by asking candidates in the coming General
Election what their own and their party’s policy is on the
question – and possibly sending Andrew Gwynne a letter of support
and encouragement -.
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
TRADE OUT OF POVERTY - David Bird I’m
not a stranger to trade justice matters, but I hadn’t heard of the
Trade Out of Poverty campaign (launched in March 2009!) until
alerted by the latest issue of the United Nations Association
magazine. You, like me, might be interested, attracted by the names
of the five co-chairs: John Battle MP (Labour) (whose inspirational
talk to WTJ a few years back will be remembered by many), Menzies
Campbell MP (Liberal Democrat), Lord (Michael) Hastings (Independent
Lord), Peter Lilley MP (Conservative) and last, but surely not
least, Clare Short MP (Independent).
Appetite whetted; read on. The
campaign aims to help the Low Income Countries and they think that
this is realistic now that India has risen out of this group to
become a Middle Income Country alongside China. They have five
specific aims (see http://www.tradeoutofpoverty.org
for details). Seems
like a good idea, even if just a tiny bit “Westminster-village
oriented”. You might like to sign their petition, to be found on
their website. Here’s
a quote from them: “Completing the Doha Round is vital. But
although it was billed as a “development round”, Doha is mainly
about freeing up trade between the rich countries and the Middle
Income Countries. There is little in it for the poorest nations.
Moreover, most of the changes we call for can be introduced by the
EU and any of the other developed countries, acting individually,
without needing to wait for the slowest ship in the convoy”. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 13 November 2009 Nearly 40
members attended the AGM in St Michael’s church hall last
November. The executive committee was re-elected and now consists of:
Jack Heery, chairman; Alan Vernon, vice-chairman; John Eardley,
secretary; Paula Horton, treasurer; Jill Loach, minutes secretary;
Liz Seager, membership secretary; Glynn Ridge, publicity officer;
and Ceri Tector and Julie Newman.
The executive committee has since appointed Cheryl Ellis to
the committee. Cheryl
has taken on the job of newsletter editor.
After the AGM Alan Vernon introduced the Trade Rules Game,
which was devised by Christian Aid to demonstrate the unfairness of
the World Trade Organisation’s trade rules.
In almost all recorded cases these rules have worked in
favour of the richest countries.
Members entered enthusiastically into the spirit of the
simulation and learned a great deal about the difficulties facing
representatives of the poorest countries when they are trying to
negotiate with their better-resourced opposite numbers from the
developed world. THE
DOHA ROUND - ELDIS, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex A summary
of the present situation regarding the Doha Round of WTO
negotiations In contrast to the Northern developed countries, the majority of
developing countries depend on agriculture as a provider of
livelihoods. As a result, the poorest group of developing countries
in the Doha Development Round, the G90, is pushing hard to make sure
their interests are recognised, and that they are entitled to
‘special and differential treatment’ to strengthen their
handicapped trading positions. However, there is also a group of
so-called ‘advanced’ developing countries, such as Brazil, that
have large and efficient agricultural systems. This group is thus
pushing for more liberalisation in order to exploit their
competitive advantages. In agricultural negotiations in the Doha Development Round, they can
generally be divided into four core themes: market access,
domestic supports, export competition, and development issues: 1
Market access:
this includes import tariff reductions, rules for ‘special’ and
‘sensitive’ products, and a safeguard mechanism protecting
developing countries from big dips in world prices, or surges in
imports which could threaten food security 2
Domestic supports:
the subsidy payments to farmers, which the WTO has classified into 3
different coloured boxes, representing different levels of
trade-distorting financial supports 3
Export competition:
which includes export subsidies, and food aid issues (such as the
dumping of Northern agricultural surpluses in developing countries) 4
Development issues:
recognising the reduced agricultural capacity of many developing
countries and thus the need for flexibility and ‘special and
differential treatment’ (SDT)
Website: www.wtj.org.uk 7.30pm at St Michael’s Church Hall,
Gills Lane, Pensby, CH61 1AF ‘HAITI
EARTHQUAKE – THE
AFTERMATH…’ Come
and hear Marcus Torchon. Sharing
his experience with us of his recent fact finding mission to Haiti. This
is a unique opportunity to hear first hand of the reality of life
for those affected. DO JOIN US. ALL VERY WELCOME! Reverend Marcus Torchon is a local Methodist minister, covering churches in Neston, Little Neston & Bromborough, currently here on an exchange programme till 2011, with his wife Sylvia and son, Jean de Luc. Marcus is a Haiti national whose immediate family were caught up in the recent devastating earthquake in Port au Prince. Fresh from his visit, come and hear Marcus update us on the current situation in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, as it slowly starts to re-build its economy and infrastructure. And speak of his hopes of forging solidarity with his fellow Haitians, and establishing links between groups and organisations over in his home country, and here.
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