News Archives » Economic Justice
Labor Day Statement of Support issued by US Catholic Bishops September 4th, 2009
The U.S. bishops are calling on Catholics to recommit this Labor Day to supporting all workers and praying for those who have lost jobs during the economic recession. The Catholic ishops issued their call in their annual Labor Day statement: “The Value of Work; The Dignity of the Human Person.”
The statement was released on September 3 and signed by Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York. Bishop Murphy, chairman of the Bishops’ Conference Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said that Labor Day is a time to celebrate “the value and dignity of work and the contribution and rights of the American worker.”
Stop Vulture Funds Bill Supported by Broad Array of Faith Groups and NGOs August 21st, 2009
The Oblate JPIC Office joined a broad array of faith groups and Non-Governmental Organizations in sending a letter to US Congressional Representatives asking for their support for the Stop Vulture Funds Act. This is newly introduced legislation that would prevent vulture funds (often a type of hedge fund) from making this excessive profit at the expense of poor countries struggling under the burden of debt.
‘Vulture fund’ is a name given to a company that seeks to make profit by buying up debt that is in default on the secondary market for pennies on the dollar, then sues the country in US or European courts once creditor countries forgive the debts owed them by a struggling country. As the value of the remaining debt rises, the Vulture Fund can often recover up to ten times the purchase price.
Some vulture funds target failing companies, but the ‘vulture fund’ campaign is focused on those that target the sovereign debts of impoverished countries.
Learn more about the vulture funds campaign
Paris Club creditors cancel 100% of Haïti’s debt July 10th, 2009
Representatives of the Paris Club creditor countries and of the Republic of Haiti agreed July 8th on debt cancellation. This flowed from Haiti’s finally having reached its Completion Point under the IMF and World Bank’s jointly sponsored Enhanced Initiative for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (enhanced HIPC Initiative) on 30 June 2009.
Bill Clinton Visits Haiti as Special UN Envoy July 10th, 2009
Former United States President Bill Clinton is finishing a three-day visit to Haiti today, his first since being appointed United Nations Special Envoy for the impoverished Caribbean nation.
During a visit to the country in March, Mr. Clinton and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assessed the situation in the wake of four back-to-back tropical storms that battered the country in 2008, killing nearly 800 people and affecting an estimated 1 million people.
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President Obama’s Trip to Ghana: Opportunity for New U.S. Approach to Africa July 9th, 2009
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, makes his first presidential visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he travels to Ghana, West Africa on July 10 and 11. President Obama will hold bilateral talks with host President John Atta Mills and will address Ghana’s parliament where he will deliver a major speech on Democracy and Food Security.
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