On Eve of US-Africa Leaders Summit, 60 CSOs Urge President Biden to Back Loss and Damage Fund, Major New Allocation of SDRs
For Immediate Release: December 12, 2022
Coalition of 140 Humanitarian, Economic, Labor, and Faith-Based Groups Call for Additional Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
Washington, DC — Sixty civil society organizations in Africa, the US, and other parts of the world are urging President Biden to commit to financing a loss and damage fund and to back a major new allocation of Special Drawing Rights to support countries confronting multiple, historic crises. The groups, which include the Africa Faith and Justice Network, Advocacy Network for Africa, Partners In Health, Africans Rising, ActionAid USA, American Friends Service Committee, Friends of the Earth US, Arab Watch Coalition, and NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, sent an open letter to President Biden today on the eve of the US-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington, DC. Their letter is available here.
“The world is in crisis, and the African people are suffering,” said Dr. Pauline Muchina, Chair of the Covid Working Group of the Advocacy Network for Africa. “President Biden has the ability to take action right now to show Africa that this summit is about more than just a photo op. We join African governments in calling for a new issuance of Special Drawing Rights for immediate relief. We hope he heeds our call.”
“These twin actions would not only help provide urgently needed resources to bolster African and other developing economies and compensate for climate-related disasters but would also demonstrate the United States is shifting to be more responsive to the needs of developing economies, particularly in the context of growing geopolitical competition for influence on the continent,” the letter states.
The letter points out that many African countries are still recovering from the impact of COVID-19, with less than one-third of the continent’s population having received a single vaccination dose so far. The letter highlights diminished economic growth in the region, high inflation, an emerging debt crisis, with 58 million people in Africa on the verge of extreme poverty and one fifth of the population of sub-Saharan Africa facing chronic hunger.
The letter notes: “despite having contributed the least of any continent to historical greenhouse gas emissions, Africa remains the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change; 19 million Africans have been affected by extreme weather events in 2022 alone, from cyclones to wildfires, flooding to drought.”
The great majority of African countries are in need of more SDRs, the letter argues, pointing out that 47 of 54 African countries used at least some of the SDRs they received from the August 2021 allocation of $650 billion worth, according to analysis from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. African leaders, such as African Union Chair Macky Sall, and finance ministers, have been vocal in calling for a new issuance in the face of the combined and compounding current crises.
The civil society groups laud the creation of the UN loss and damage fund to assist countries affected by climate change, but notes that “no country has yet offered contributions commensurate with the existential magnitude of the climate crisis” and urges Biden “to lead by example by making the United States the first to step up to that role by making major increases for climate remediation …”
"Africa is reeling from the effects of a climate crisis that we did not cause,” said Emira Woods, Executive Director of Green Leadership Trust. “While the agreement at COP27 to establish a new loss and damage fund was a step forward, we need more than an empty bucket. We urge President Biden to show the world that the United States can stand in solidarity with African people by committing to financing the loss and damage fund today.”
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Spokespersons from various organizations offered additional praise for the amendment:
“I am delighted to see the passage of this legislation for no-cost global COVID relief. The Senate should include these measures for debt relief and emergency financial resources in this next COVID relief package ― along with humanitarian assistance. This innovative and noncontroversial solution will help countries prevent the spread of COVID and resulting hunger ― without costing US taxpayers a single penny.”
— Mark Harrison, Peace with Justice Program Director, United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society
“The US Congress must show compassion and help save lives globally at $0 cost to the US taxpayers. The issuance of special drawing rights at the IMF will help countries globally to protect their people from COVID-19, hunger, and economic devastation. Like many globally, African countries need these resources to survive COVID-19 and its economic downturn. It is our moral obligation to show compassion and save lives.” ”
— Dr. Pauline Muchina, Policy, Education and Advocacy Coordinator for Africa, American Friends Service Committee
“As an African-American, COVID has disproportionately impacted my community. Internationally, when we look at countries that are, as the Bible says, ‘the least of these,’ our faith calls us to act. I call on senators to co-sponsor the Durbin bill for a global response to COVID.”
— Edith Guffey, Conference Minister, Kansas-Oklahoma Conference, United Church of Christ
“We applaud the House of Representatives in passing this life-saving legislation. If enacted, it will help developing countries buy PPE, medicine and other US exports. This will save lives around the world and boost the economy here at home. The Congressional Budget Office has confirmed this bill will have a $0 cost to the United States. The Senate should include these provisions in funding legislation this year."
— Isaac Evans-Frantz, Director, Action Corps
“Now more than ever, debt means death. Maryknoll missioners see this in poor countries like Kenya and Ecuador where governments spend more on servicing debt than on health care. As the coronavirus hits, people fear unemployment and hunger as much as getting sick. If we don’t do what we can to shore up the global economy, we could see millions of people around the world destitute and dying. We will all suffer because our economies are connected and this virus knows no borders. The House legislation, and its companion in the Senate, the Support for Global Financial Institution Pandemic Response Act, recognize these facts and that Special Drawing Rights were created for this kind of emergency. Just as the United States supported the IMF allocating SDRs in the financial crisis in 2009, it should support it now.”
— Susan Gunn, Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
“As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc in Latin America, South Asia and Africa, we need a global response to the global economic crisis. A major allocation of Special Drawing Rights by the IMF is a critical complement to more debt relief and more aid.”