September, 10 2015, 03:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Andrew Hanauer, Campaigns Director andrew@jubileeusa.org / (o) (202) 783-3566 x100 (m) (510) 495-5472
United Nations Votes on Principles to Prevent Debt Crises
The United Nations General Assembly will likely vote in favor today on principles to guide economies facing financial distress. A UN committee approved the principles this summer as part of broader UN efforts to create a global bankruptcy process for countries.
"The United Nations is acting because it sees how countries are negatively impacted by debt crises," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a religious development coalition. LeCompte advised the UN on the principles.
WASHINGTON
The United Nations General Assembly will likely vote in favor today on principles to guide economies facing financial distress. A UN committee approved the principles this summer as part of broader UN efforts to create a global bankruptcy process for countries.
"The United Nations is acting because it sees how countries are negatively impacted by debt crises," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a religious development coalition. LeCompte advised the UN on the principles.
The UN voted 124-11 last September to develop a bankruptcy process amidst debt crises in Greece, the Caribbean and Argentina. During the process, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released a road map report on guiding restructuring processes. That report led this summer to a UN committee approving nine debt restructuring principles, including good faith, transparency, impartiality, equitable treatment of debt holders and sustainability. The General Assembly will vote today on adopting those principles.
"Debt crises hurt poor people in every corner of the world," noted LeCompte, who consulted on the UNCTAD road map. "The UN is laying a framework to eventually offer bankruptcy protection to countries just as cities and states are protected in the United States."
Read the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes' nine principles.
Read the UNCTAD report: Sovereign Debt Workouts: Going Forward - Roadmap and Guide.
Read more about the UN Ad Hoc Committee's debt restructuring principles.
Jubilee USA Network is an interfaith, non-profit alliance of religious, development and advocacy organizations. We are 75 U.S. institutions and more than 750 faith groups working across the United States and around the globe. We address the structural causes of poverty and inequality in our communities and countries around the world.
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