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[Does anyone know if Minneapolis purchases bonds from the World Bank? Is
there a Mpls CM who would be willing to introduce a resolution against
buying such bonds if Mpls. does purchase them? Inquiring minds need to
know.]
San Francisco Board of Supervisors Votes Unanimously to Boycott World
Bank Bonds:
City Joins Oakland, Communications Workers of America, Citizens Funds in
Growing Grassroots Campaign
WASHINGTON - October 4 - On Monday, October 2, 2000, the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution which
commits the city not to purchase bonds issued by the World Bank. By
joining the international boycott of World Bank-issued bonds, the City
of San Francisco is continuing its legacy of supporting social and
environmental justice - including its support for selective purchase
campaigns against Apartheid South Africa and the military junta in
Burma.
The President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Tom
Ammiano, stated, "Passage of this resolution and the recent protests
against the WTO and the World Bank go to show that when people in local
communities take a stand they can have a positive effect of impacting
policies with these institutions."
The San Francisco resolution is part of an international campaign
against the World Bank and its sister organization the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), whose projects and policies have caused enormous
environmental destruction & displaced and impoverished upwards of ten
million poor and indigenous people. It is also part of a growing,
nationwide grassroots movement of activists seeking to encourage their
local and state governments to use their purchasing and investment power
to advance a more just global economy.
Sponsor of the resolution Supervisor Michael Yaki stated, "We, the
City of San Francisco, should not invest in development banks that do
not support sustainable economic development models."
"This is an important and exciting initial step in halting global,
economic institutions such as the World Bank whose claims of
'development' and poverty alleviation have, in reality, meant increased
poverty and desperation for millions of people worldwide," states
Rosalyn Fay, a member of Economic Justice for Africa Now, a Bay Area
economic justice advocacy group which generated support for the
resolution.
The Cities of Oakland and Berkeley, California; the Communications
Workers of America; the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of
America (UE); Citizens Funds; and the Sisters of Loretto have also
committed - through resolution or statement of policy - not to purchase
bonds issued by the World Bank. Coalitions of human rights and social
justice groups in cities and on university campuses across the country
are organizing additional boycott resolutions.
The boycott was launched because, while the World Bank has adopted
new rhetoric, its policies on debt and structural adjustment --
austerity programs imposed on indebted countries -- have remained
largely unchanged, plundering environments and economies of poor
countries. The campaign demands that the World Bank halt its devastating
structural adjustment lending and cancel debt claims it has on countries
in the Global South. The World Bank gets 80% of its financing through
bond sales on private financial markets to institutional investors and
others. The World Bank Bonds Boycott was launched in April at the time
of the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. Human
rights, environmental, labor and develop- ment groups in over 35
countries support the campaign.
CONTACT: World Bank Bonds Boycott
(http://208.55.75.172/cej/worldbankboycott.htm)
Rosalyn Fay/Laura Livoti 510-251-1332
Neil Watkins 202-299-0020
Jenny Heiser
Less Prestigious East Phillips, Ward 6
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<FONT SIZE=-1>[Does anyone know if Minneapolis purchases bonds from the
World Bank? Is there a Mpls CM who would be willing to introduce a resolution
against buying such bonds if Mpls. does purchase them? Inquiring minds
need to know.]</FONT><B><FONT SIZE=-1></FONT></B>
<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1>San Francisco Board of Supervisors Votes Unanimously
to Boycott World Bank Bonds:</FONT></B>
<BR><B><FONT SIZE=-1>City Joins Oakland, Communications Workers of America,
Citizens Funds in Growing Grassroots Campaign</FONT></B>
<BR>
<BR> WASHINGTON - October 4 - On Monday, October
2, 2000, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution
which commits the city not to purchase bonds issued by the World Bank.
By joining the international boycott of World Bank-issued bonds, the City
of San Francisco is continuing its legacy of supporting social and environmental
justice - including its support for selective purchase campaigns against
Apartheid South Africa and the military junta in Burma.
<P> The President of the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors, Tom Ammiano, stated, "Passage of this resolution and the recent
protests against the WTO and the World Bank go to show that when people
in local communities take a stand they can have a positive effect of impacting
policies with these institutions."
<P> The San Francisco resolution is part of an
international campaign against the World Bank and its sister organization
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose projects and policies have
caused enormous environmental destruction & displaced and impoverished
upwards of ten million poor and indigenous people. It is also part of a
growing, nationwide grassroots movement of activists seeking to encourage
their local and state governments to use their purchasing and investment
power to advance a more just global economy.
<P> Sponsor of the resolution Supervisor Michael
Yaki stated, "We, the City of San Francisco, should not invest in development
banks that do not support sustainable economic development models."
<P> "This is an important and exciting initial
step in halting global, economic institutions such as the World Bank whose
claims of 'development' and poverty alleviation have, in reality, meant
increased poverty and desperation for millions of people worldwide," states
Rosalyn Fay, a member of Economic Justice for Africa Now, a Bay Area economic
justice advocacy group which generated support for the resolution.
<P> The Cities of Oakland and Berkeley, California;
the Communications Workers of America; the United Electrical, Radio, and
Machine Workers of America (UE); Citizens Funds; and the Sisters of Loretto
have also committed - through resolution or statement of policy - not to
purchase bonds issued by the World Bank. Coalitions of human rights and
social justice groups in cities and on university campuses across the country
are organizing additional boycott resolutions.
<P> The boycott was launched because, while the
World Bank has adopted new rhetoric, its policies on debt and structural
adjustment -- austerity programs imposed on indebted countries -- have
remained largely unchanged, plundering environments and economies of poor
countries. The campaign demands that the World Bank halt its devastating
structural adjustment lending and cancel debt claims it has on countries
in the Global South. The World Bank gets 80% of its financing through bond
sales on private financial markets to institutional investors and others.
The World Bank Bonds Boycott was launched in April at the time of the spring
meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington. Human rights, environmental,
labor and develop- ment groups in over 35 countries support the campaign.
<P><FONT SIZE=-1>CONTACT: World Bank Bonds Boycott </FONT>(<A
HREF="http://208.55.75.172/cej/worldbankboycott.htm">http://208.55.75.172/cej/worldbankboycott.htm</A>)
<BR>Rosalyn Fay/Laura Livoti 510-251-1332
<BR>Neil Watkins 202-299-0020
<P>Jenny Heiser
<BR>Less Prestigious East Phillips, Ward 6</HTML>
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