Register Now for the
Drop the Debt Fast

Dear friend,

Next Saturday 12 April is the start of the Drop the Debt Fast, our 36-day rolling fast demanding FASTER debt cancellation for MORE of the world's poorest countries. Every day for 36 days we will focus on one of the countries which still desperately need debt cancellation, nearly ten years after world leaders promised to tackle the crisis. Please join us - pledge to take part in the Fast for a day or more right now:

http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/fast

As the Fast begins next weekend the World Bank and International Monetary Fund will hold their Spring meetings in Washington DC. On 12 April we will focus on LIBERIA, which has just this month been told that after two years of waiting, it can finally begin the process of 'qualifying' for debt cancellation. For other countries, this has taken as long as six years and involved complying with harmful and undemocratic economic policies dictated by the IMF. But the people of Liberia shouldn't have to wait.

On 14 April, as the IMF and World Bank conclude their meetings by discussing ways for poor countries to adapt to climate change, we will focus on BANGLADESH, a country which is already on the front line of our changing climate. The proportion of those living in extreme poverty is actually increasing in Bangladesh, while climate change is causing more and more devastating cyclones and floods. Yet despite debts of $18.9 billion, Bangladesh is told it does not 'qualify' for debt cancellation.

All the countries we are focusing on in the Fast have been left out of debt cancellation so far, either because the process is too slow - as with Liberia - or because it is too limited - as with Bangladesh.
This must change if the debt crisis, which is keeping millions of people in poverty, is to be resolved. Please pledge now to join the Drop the Debt Fast:

http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/fast

When you sign up to take part in the Fast, we will send you an email once a week with information about the countries that are the focus of the Fast for the week ahead. We will also direct you towards the chain links we are collecting during the Fast for use in a mass action in Birmingham on Sunday 18 May.

The Fast is part of our programme of events marking the tenth anniversary of the human chain in Birmingham - a key moment in the debt campaign - and we hope you'll get involved. We have made great strides in the last ten years, and debt cancellation is working to tackle poverty in many countries. But the crisis isn't over. Please help finish the job:

http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/fast

Best wishes,
Jubilee Debt Campaign