JS APMDD Holds Debt Audit Training

March 29 – April 5, 2008

Jubilee South-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development recently held a Regional Course on Debt and Debt Audit training – 45 participants from ten organizations in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Cambodia and the Philippines.

This course training has long been planned with the following objectives in mind – 1) capacity-building in undertaking campaigns on debt & global finance and illegitimate debt 2) promoting debt audit 3) exchanging ideas on strategies; and 4)promoting cooperation among south campaigns

It was an 8 –Day Course that began with a presentation on the historical context of the debt and covered topics related to debt, public finance and global capital. The second part involved presentations and discussions on the global debt movement and the campaign on illegitimate debt. Lidy Nacpil was the main resource person, with several inputs from participants on country information and updates. They were also asked to present case studies on illegitimate debt. Other speakers include Leonor Briones, former National Treasurer of the Republic of the Philippines, Atty. Harry Roque who discussed legal issues on debt transactions and loan contracts, Titi Soentoro, from Indonesia, on ECAs, and Hemantha Withanage from the NGO Forum on the ADB and Red Constantino on Debt, IFIs & Climate Change.

The participants spent one afternoon in country workshops to exercise planning for citizens audit. The 3 organizations from Bangladesh expressed resolve to take a more active role in popularizing the issue of illegitimate debt, especially in international events and during meetings of international financial institutions. They also plan to hold gatherings to explore partnerships with other organizations to conduct a debt audit. Indonesian organizations will organize a national summit to promote the idea of pushing for debt audit. In Cambodia, the immediate task will be to popularize the issue and encourage more organizations to take on a campaign.

Participating groups in the Philippines shared about the ongoing Debt Audit campaign and also a report on the gains and lessons from the campaign efforts to push the previous Congress to conduct a joint debt audit process. Freedom from Debt Coalition and other organizations working on debt have renewed campaign efforts to push an Official Debt Audit and have gone further in terms of pushing for a Citizens Debt Audit.