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African Social Forum Debt Workshop - 6,7 January 2003
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3. Strategies
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The workshop identified strategies towards implementing our alternative solutions to the debt crisis at each of the national, regional, continental and international levels.
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National level:
- Build the movement against debt and for reparations on the ground
- Engage in a concerted drive to enhance literacy on economic and debt issues
- Embark on signature campaigns, pamphleteering, debt caravans and related cultural activities
- Develop alliances with other anti-neoliberal campaigns, organizations and movements
- Support national campaigns in other countries
There was extensive discussion on how we relate to the governments in our countries. The workshop characterized the governments on the continent as all too often being illiterate on debt and related issues and as being "subcontractors" for the G 8, the World Bank and the IMF.
Various approaches were identified, with each being influenced by the nature of each government:
- Find ways of working with the governments to influence their policies
- Educate them on issues of debt, reparations and the neoliberal paradigm
- Demand information from them on loans and debt
- Find ways to challenge them, protest and take other appropriate forms of action
- Change undemocratic and dictatorial leaders and governments
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Regional and continental level:
The workshop endorsed the need for coordinated regional and continental action. It was agreed that we should work towards common action on significant days:
- the 25th of May : African Liberation Day
- the 16th of June : Youth/Childrens Day (to commemorate the Soweto Uprising, in 1976)
- the 16th of December (Zulu Victory over invading Boers, in South Africa)
In addition, each country can choose a specific Day of Action. Furthermore, recommendation was made to strengthening existing national and sub-regional debt coalitions and set up others in countries where they do not exist yet.
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International level:
The Workshop recommended that more work be done to popularize the findings and verdict of the International Debt Tribunal, held in Porto Alegre in 2002, as a means of strengthening the campaigns in our countries. It was also agreed that we must share the conclusions from this workshop at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, later this month.
Particular mention was made of strengthening our relationships with our counterparts in Latin America given the depth of the debt crisis in their countries and the need to work together to implement our solutions.
There was also agreement to strengthen interaction with our counterparts in the North. Particular mention was made of our support for a drive to educate people in the United States on debt issues. The drive is initiated by the African Friends Service Committee (AFSC), whose representative exposed an action plan during the Workshop.
There was discussion on other proposals regarding solutions to the debt crisis, such as an international arbitration mechanism and an international debt/development fund. Different points of view were expressed on those proposals. The consensus was that these issues need further debate before reaching any conclusions.
It was recognized that, in the time available, it was not possible to develop a more detailed strategy, and that the commitment expressed to put debt and reparations firmly back on the agenda requires this to be done. It was agreed that we should look for the means to hold a more in-depth continental Strategy Workshop or, if this proves not to be feasible, Strategy Workshops in each of our regions.
In conclusion, the Workshop recommendations can be summarized as follows:
- In addition to being illegitimate, odious and immoral, Africa's debt has been paid many times over
- It is Africa that is owed an immense historical debt as well as a debt for failed IMF/WB projects
- Debt is used as an instrument of domination and plunder of Africa's resources
- The only solution to the debt crisis is its cancellation without external conditions
- The need to mobilize for a collective repudiation of debt
- The total rejection of the HIPC Initiative, PRSPs and all other IMF/WB policies
- The need to put the debt issue in the broader context of the neoliberal global system
- The solutions to Africa's debt and development problems are in Africa and nowhere else
- The formulation of an alternative development paradigm should rely on some key documents that should be updated and enriched by research and struggles of the past two decades
- The need to strengthen our solidarity with our partners of the South and our cooperation with Northern partners on the basis of our vision and priorities.
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