Relieve Haiti's Crushing Debt!

American Jewish World Service: Email - Beyond Emergency Relief: Relieving Haiti's Crushing Debt

With unprecedented devastation and the death toll rising each day, many Americans are searching for actions that they can take to support the Haitian people and help them to build a better future. But for recovery efforts to be successful, the people of Haiti must be relieved of a fiscal burden that predates the earthquake and has kept the country in poverty for decades. Despite achieving significant debt relief last summer, Haiti still owes over $800M to international creditors.

Given this predicament, we were shocked to learn that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pledged $100M for Haitian relief as a loan, a decision which is up for debate at next week’s IMF board meeting. Additionally, Haiti also owes $447M to the Inter-American Development Bank and no commitments have been made to ease the Haitian government of this enormous burden.

United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner sits on the Executive Board of both institutions and commands the largest share of the votes. Before the IMF meets next week to reconsider its loan as well as the $165M Haiti currently owes, we must let him know that the American people demand debt relief.

Take action on this issue. Tell Secretary Geithner that more debt for Haiti is not the right approach. Click here.