Debt Campaign

The SJC has provided educational material and presentations on the situation of heavily indebted, impoverished countries since 1990. Recognizing the need to cancel these debts, the leaders of wealthy countries put together the debt relief program called the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative in late 1996. Several countries have benefited from the program, although not all that have been evaluated as deserving of relief. The relief was also slow in arriving, mostly because of the extensive conditions required by the agencies coordinating the program, the IMF and World Bank.

In 2006 the program moved into a new phase, with the IMF and World Bank finally agreeing to provide 100% cancellation to eligible countries. By the end of the year, however, the Inter-American Development was still not committing to full cancellation for the HIPCs in the Americas.

The SJC provides several educational tools on debt, such as small-group interactive presentations, a video on Honduras and the impact of debt there, a software program about debt and development, and background papers.

The debt campaign material can be organized into the following categories:

You may also wish to wish to read an op-ed about debt and Latin America or view a slide show from one of our protest actions.