JULY/AUGUST 2005

July 1st, 2005

Those of us lucky enough to have been in Edinburgh for the MakePovertyHistory G8 rally had a great time. The overriding feeling was of

EDITORIAL Those of us lucky enough to have been in Edinburgh for the MakePovertyHistory G8 rally had a great time. The overriding feeling was of the united purpose of all ages and races and faiths in peace and harmony. It was a long but very happy day. We must wait to see how far the promises made by the leaders are followed by action. Poverty and the arms trade are intimately linked. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade continues to alert us to the scale of arms dealing. It is surely obscene that the global spending on arms exceeded $1 trillion in 2004 while the arms-selling countries spent just $78bn on development aid in the same year. These figures come from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). When there is a political will to find the money [for weapons] it can always be found. We need a war on poverty with the same scale of resources. SIPRI reported that spending by the US accounted for nearly half the total spent on weapons and was more than the combined sum of the 32 next biggest spenders. Britain, the second largest arms spender, spent $47bn – a tenth of the US total. [If like me you have no idea what these huge numbers mean, I learnt this from Radio 4’s More or Less programme: A million seconds = 11.5 days; a billion seconds = 32 years, and a trillion seconds = 32,000 years] The G8 Finance Ministers, under the leadership of Gordon Brown, have made a good start in agreeing to cancel debt for some of the poorest countries. CAFOD and the other agencies have been working for so long to achieve this. And this and our other concerns are all covered in the new Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine which justifies all that those who work for Justice & Peace do in their parishes. We are not the odd ones: we are only trying to preach the social doctrine of the church! The privatisation of utilities that are essential for people’s lives has been a disaster in many developing countries. And this has often been demanded as a condition for aid. The WDM report shows how damaging this has been. Chris Dove Note: the views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission.

From Chair’s Report to AGM An A.G.M. is a good time both to reflect on the past year and to look forward to the coming months. At our January meeting – A Peace and Disarmament Gathering facilitated by Pax Christi, Campaign Against the Arms Trade and the Fellowship of Reconciliation – people from many different peace and development organisations came together to share resources and explore current themes. This has set in motion a plan to use one of the Commission meetings each year to develop this network further. At other meetings during the past year we have had a speaker from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Israel and Palestine – a fascinating first hand account of 3 months spent in the occupied territories; we have focused on the challenges of World Food Trade, and we have heard from Commission members of their involvement in prison visiting and credit unions. An on-going focus is to develop more links with young people in the Diocese following a very successful meeting in Hull last year. A new young people’s group based at the Cathedral has got involved in the Trade Justice Campaign and has offered hospitality and friendship to young people seeking asylum. In November we hope to have a meeting hosted by students from All Saints School in York. An exciting initiative in October will be a Study Day at Ampleforth being planned by the Richmond Parliamentary Constituency Group, the Justice and Peace Commission and the Women’s Commission. The theme for the day will be Christian Family Values – both as regards the family unit and also the wider family of Europe and our relationships with the developing world. There will be high profile speakers from each of the three main political parties and the opportunity to attend workshops. Our on-going work is always to spread awareness of justice issues around the diocese. A particular focus continues to be working with those seeking asylum in our area. We are very grateful for the support of the Bishop and the Diocese, and of CAFOD, who have been always been closely involved. Barbara. The Arms Trade and Poverty Every gun, every warship, every tank and every military aircraft built is, in the final analysis, a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, from those who are naked and are not clothed. Dwight D Eisenhower US President 1952-1960 According to the UN, 800 million people in the world are suffering from chronic hunger. More than a billion struggle to survive on less than $1 per day. It is truly shameful that such poverty exists. The arms trade plays a key role in exacerbating it. Countries engaged in conflict spend vast sums on weapons. This drains vital resources from education and health provision and is a major cause of ‘third world debt’. In July some of the world’s leading arms exporters will gather in Scotland for the G8 annual meeting. All eight countries, except Japan, are among the ten biggest arms exporters in the world. • In 2003, G8 countries exported weapons worth more than US$24 billion. • More than half were sold to countries in the developing world. • Around 89% of arms sales to developing countries currently come from just five G8 members – the USA, Russia, France, the UK and Germany. Ending arms exports from G8 countries to the developing world is an urgent priority. Source: Campaign against the Arms Trade. Debt cancellation While praising Gordon Brown for championing the cause of debt cancellation at the G8 Finance Ministers’ meeting, we need to remember that it is still not enough. The deal offers immediate 100% cancellation of World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank debt for the countries that have completed the HIPC process (currently 18, potentially up to 38). But about 62 countries need immediate cancellation if they are to have a chance of meeting the Millennium Goals by 2015. With the political will of rich countries, it is possible: in one day last year, over $30bn of Iraqi debt was cancelled, more than the debt relief given through the HIPC process in the preceding nine years. Debt relief works. Uganda has used the money released from its debt relief to double primary school enrolment and invest in a successful HIV/AIDS plan. Mozambique’s debt relief has enabled its government to immunise 500,000 children. In Uganda debt relief has led to 2.2 million more people getting access to clean water. But 30,000 children die every day as a result of poverty and lack of proper medical services means that more women die in pregnancy in India in one week than die in the whole of Europe in one year. We have to follow up on the G8 summit and keep up the pressure on government to change things permanently. Importantly, we must make sure that promises are translated into deeds. It is shameful that, for example, after the earthquake in Bam, the US and EU promised $1bn but only $1.5m has been paid out, in Mozambique less than a third of the $400m promised for reconstruction has been paid and again, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mich, of $8bn promised only $26m has been paid. The Church’s best kept secret This was the title of a recent Tablet article which reported on an interview with Cardinal Renato Martino, the president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Coming after an appointment as the Vatican’s permanent observer at the UN, he has just completed the compilation of the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. “The Compendium seeks to inform a principled, ethical engagement with society at the dawn of the Third Millenium.” It is a very full distillation of Catholic social teaching and doctrines. Punctiliously indexed, ranging from Abortion to Youth it enables readers to get to grips with key teachings in seconds. Social encyclicals from Rerum Novarum (1892) to many of John Paul II’s, including Centesimus Annus, are covered, with many references to Gaudium et Spes. John Paul II believed the Compendium absolutely vital for the life of the church, because he thought that Catholic social teaching was so little known. The Compendium itself says “It is neither taught nor known sufficiently – which is part of the reason for its failure to be suitably reflected in concrete behaviour.” Cardinal Martino sees Jesus as “doing social work and evangelising too” when he helped the poor and cured the sick. This is the Gospel. That is why preaching social doctrine is just the same as preaching the gospel.” The Compendium advises the laity to take the initiative “without waiting passively for orders and directives.” The Cardinal’s support for pro-life issues is matched by a repudiation of military action, “the damage caused by that great defeat for humanity which war always represents.” He has expressed exasperation over nuclear arms and the failure of the latest conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He made it crystal clear that he blames the nuclear powers (Britain, France, USA) for failing to make any headway. “They should have taken a step forward towards the abolition of nuclear weapons.” It was legitimate to be concerned about the spreading of nuclear arms to countries such as Iran and North Korea, but it would not do to use this as a diversion from concrete action towards disarmament. “We must not bring nuclear weapons into the third millennium.” The Compendium rejects protectionism and reminds us that the things of this earth should be shared fairly. “There is a real danger in the brute pursuit of wealth by transnational corporations, many being more powerful than states.” As for environmental degradation, Cardinal Martino recalled the first principle of the 1992 Rio Declaration: “Human beings are at the centre of concerns for the environment and development. They are entitled to a fruitful life in harmony with the environment.” (The cardinal succeeded in having inserted the word ‘human beings’ in place of ‘states’ in the above principle.) “The coming together of faith and reason, and the directing of action towards caritas is the synthesis that the Compendium intends to promote,” said the cardinal. “Is there anything of greater urgency? Is there anything less abstract?” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is published by Burns and Oates, an imprint of Continuum. The Environmental challenge Alongside our work seeking justice in the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers and urging a move towards a culture of peace and not war, we have always championed the need for care for the environment. WATER and the G8 meeting Two million people die every year because they don’t have access to clean water. The UK government are promising to try to persuade the other G8 members to agree to meeting the UN goal to spend 0.7% of GDP on development aid. However every year the Government quietly hands over millions of pounds from the aid budget to water privatisation consultants. The UK leads the world in pushing water privatisation – a solution that has led to massive price rises faced by consumers least able to pay; to outbreaks of deadly disease and to whole communities being cut off from their water supply. Since 1997 our government has paid at least £90 million of taxpayer’s money for ‘technical assistance’ much of it paid to its chosen consultants. The consultants draw up privatisation plans for poor countries. Then water companies move in, claiming millions more from the aid budget to subsidise their operations. • In Trinidad and Tobago, UK-based consultants Halcrow set up a management contract for Severn Trent, who performed so badly that mass protests made them withdraw within 4 years. • Prices tripled after privatisation in Manila and bacteria in the system caused a cholera outbreak. • Mass non-payment was sparked in Cochabamba, Bolivia, when the private water company tried to boost its profits by charging people for collecting rain water. • Free market specialists Adam Smith International spent £270,000 of UK aid money on publicity in Tanzania aimed at quelling opposition to privatisation. But it does not have to be like this. • 99% of people in Porto Allegre, Brazil now receive clean water. Their water provider is independent but owned by the city and citizens help to take decisions on how its budget is spent. • In Penang, Malaysia, the water company is a public utility but is free from political interference. Prices are among the lowest in the world and even though it is run on commercial lines, the charging system ensures that even the poorest can afford to pay for their water. • In Dacca, Bangladesh, the union-led cooperative ran water so much more efficiently than the private company in a neighbouring zone that the government gave both contracts to the cooperative. The World Development Movement (WDM) is campaigning with the slogan “Dirty Aid, Dirty Water” to stop the scandal of aid funds being spent in this way. Further information can be found on their website: www.dirtyaid.org. Source: WDM News Item….. The UK based water company Biwater is to sue Tanzania after its government revoked a contract to supply water and sanitation to the country’s largest city, Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is one of the world’s poorest countries, struggling with debts of $6.8 bn which easily outstrip its annual budget of $1.38bn. It was forced to privatise its water industry to qualify for international debt relief. The UK government spent millions paying advisers to facilitate what turned out to be a botched privatisation. Biwater was two years into a ten year contract when it was sacked. Source: Weekly Guardian [May 27-June 2] Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464917 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@ukgateway.net or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp Commission Meetings in 2005 16 July Filey. Mercy Convent Day of Reflection. Fr Tony Storey 17 Sept Middlesbrough. St Francis of Assisi Medical Foundation for Victims of Torture. 19 Nov York. Students from All Saints School Commission meetings are open to everyone and usually begin at 10 for 10.30, finishing by about 1pm.

Edinburgh , Saturday 2nd July 2005. We got up very early, 3.45 to be precise. It was a long, long journey, too cold going, too hot coming home. We were exhausted. We didn’t manage to join the white band encircling the city centre; there were just so many people. So, was it worth it? YES, Yes, because there were just so many people, so many young, so many smiling, including the cardinals, a splash of scarlet against the sea of white. There was so much noise: music and chatter and pipers and laughter, then, at 3pm precisely, a sudden deep silence, followed by an even louder noise. Now we can only pray our leaders heard our cry for the poor, will not forget, but persevere in action. A.M.D.

What’s the point? You say the little efforts that I make will do no good. They never will prevail to tip the hovering scale when justice hangs in the balance. I don’t think I ever thought they would. But I am prejudiced beyond debate in favour of my right to choose which side shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight. Bonaro Overstreet