March 23, 2022
FORGE Launches Vision Fund with Grants on Sovereign Debt
FORGE grants US$1.42 million to civil society organizations working on debt justice around the world to counter the corrosive impact of sovereign debt on the protection and realization of labor, climate, gender and social justice in the context of a post-COVID recovery.
Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE) is pleased to announce its 2021 Vision Fund grants on the theme of Sovereign Debt and Post-COVID recovery.
Sovereign debt burdens in the Global South threaten governments’ ability to meet basic needs, realize rights and development goals, and provide social protection in response to COVID.
FORGE seeks to counter the corrosive impact of debt in the context of a post-COVID recovery by supporting actions that reduce fiscal constraints on public services and rights protection; challenge debt-related policy measures that adversely affect workers and communities, particularly in the Global South; and promote collaboration between the debt justice community and the human rights, labor, climate and feminist movements.
The 2021 grantees are geographically diverse in their reach and collectively, their debt justice efforts are global in scope. 60% of FORGE resources will support organizations and their grassroots partners working in the Global South. Their projects advance debt justice strategies across the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America and Asia, with work in Barbados, Guatemala, Ecuador, Argentina, Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, Chad, Somalia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, the Philippines, the United States and the United Kingdom.
The new projects include:
Pan African Feminists for Debt-free and Just Care Economy by African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Kenya. This project will promote the adoption of a care economy and an increase in fiscal space for its financing in three heavily indebted African countries: Cameroon, Ghana and Zambia, through research, advocacy, campaigns and communications advanced by a network of feminist organizations. The project is based on and builds off the existing work of an extensive network of feminist organizations in Africa.
Challenging the IMF and the World Bank’s Structures and Treatment of Debt and Development in the (post-)COVID Era by Bretton Woods Project (BWP), UK. This grant seeks reforms in governance and decision-making at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to ensure a more just system for the treatment of debt and development. It seeks to reform voting rights to ensure Global South representation, counter austerity policy prescriptions and narratives, and promote the use of Special Drawing Rights as a non-debt tool for development finance.
Confronting the Caribbean Debt Challenge and Building Resilience for Sustainable Development by Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), Barbados, and Jubilee Debt Campaign, UK. This grant seeks to strengthen a regional debt justice movement in the Caribbean focused on the twin debt and climate crises, achieve debt relief, redirect funds for climate action, and increase the visibility and participation of the Caribbean in the global debt community.
Sovereign Debt and Day-to-day Life: Activism on the Effects of Indebtedness on the Environment, Labor, Care and Protection by the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Argentina. This project aims to construct new rights-based narratives on the impacts of sovereign debt on labor, care and access to food, drawing on the debt crisis underway in Argentina. CELS will use analysis and new narratives to fuel additional, broad-based social mobilization and to increase public debate on debt and accountability. Project partners include unions, labor organizations and rural movements.
Challenging Private Creditors for People's Recovery by Christian Aid, UK; Instituto Centroamericano de Estudios Fiscales (ICEFI), Guatemala; and Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), Kenya. This proposal will expose and challenge the role of private creditors in hindering a just, green and care-centered recovery. The project seeks to create a sense of urgency and action among the public, governments and international policymakers to bring private creditors into an independent sovereign debt workout mechanism.
Sovereign Debt Architecture Reform towards a Just and Sustainable Post-COVID-19 Global Economy by African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad), Zimbabwe; Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), the Philippines; European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), Belgium; Jubilee USA Network, USA; and the Latin American Network for Economic and Social Justice (Latinddad), Peru. This project seeks to energize a cross-sectoral global debt justice movement and advance a coordinated, post-COVID debt agenda to expand debt cancellation (short-term) and prevent over-indebtedness in the future (long-term), through a coordinated joint strategy from the key debt justice platforms.
Citizen Action for Debt Justice in Southern Africa by Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD), Zimbabwe; the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), UK; and the Southern African People's Solidarity Network (SAPSN), Zimbabwe. This project empowers and amplifies a regional debt justice movement in Southern Africa aimed at increasing pressure on public and private creditors to reduce debt payments to sustainable levels; equips civil society to track debt and monitor government borrowing; and promotes accountability on governmental debt practices.
Sustainable Development and Debt: Solutions for a Just Future by International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Belgium. This grant will build cross labor-debt movement capacity with union affiliates at the country level in Argentina, Chad, Ecuador, Somalia and Zambia. It will advocate for debt relief and restructuring to enable a pro-development approach that advances social protection, climate action and inclusive jobs growth. At the global level, the project will push for a permanent debt relief mechanism that allows social protection and a just transition.
FORGE grantees have a demonstrated ability to identify and cultivate connections between the issues and impacts arising from debt and human rights, workers’ rights, gender justice and climate justice. Each grantee has put forward, with partners, an innovative and cross-field approach to debt-related problems, a key structural driver of inequality, and will translate that approach into a vision of a fair and green post-COVID recovery.
The COVID situation makes it essential that the issue of debt is kept high on the global policy agenda. Debt levels have soared recently due to the COVID-19 global recession, directly impacting the ability of governments to protect social, economic and labor rights, and highlighting the need for greater social protection and an equitable and well-resourced care economy. Moreover, the climate crisis has prompted a debate around what debt means for climate action and ensuring a transition to a green and inclusive economy.
We congratulate the grantees and wish them success in advancing their important work.
IN THE PRESS
Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy is a collaborative of philanthropic donors working together towards a global economy that works for all people and the planet. FORGE funders work to support reforms that are grounded in the rights and power of communities and workers, that strengthen accountability and that seek to address underlying flaws in the financial system.
The FORGE Response and Vision Fund supports community-led and civil society organizations, workers’ rights groups and social movements that work with those most impacted by the economic fallout of COVID-19, while advancing systemic change to shift the economy in a more just and sustainable direction. With this grant round, FORGE launches the Vision component of the fund, designed to identify and support strategic interventions for longer-term systems change.
The SAGE Fund leads the collaborative grantmaking for FORGE and provides funders with a learning and grantmaking laboratory to cultivate breakthroughs in human rights accountability for economic actors.
CONTACT
Carlos Lozano, FORGE Program Officer
carlos@sagefundrights.org