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CSOs Call to International Creditors of Bangladesh Suspend Realizing Debt Instalments during COVID19


We the following Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from all over the world, are calling on the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and all bilateral, regional and multilateral development financiers of Bangladesh to suspend the realization of debt instalments for all public debts of developing countries combating the COVID-19 pandemic so that the current crisis is not aggravated.

Countries, irrespective of developed, developing and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), are in a predicament due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are all facing an acute shortage of emergency protective devices and life-saving equipment. Bangladesh’s economy is also severely under stress due to the additional burden of pandemic management while the country has a budget deficit of USD 17.65 billion in the current financial year. Despite the budget deficit, the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has allocated an additional 9.06 billion USD as a bailout to the private sector. The GoB now needs a supplementary amount of USD 8.11 billion to fight COVID-19 in the health sector alone. Another USD 1.7 billion, over and above the national budget, is required for supplying adequate food to 34 million people living below the poverty line. Considering the calamitous situation, GoB needs at least USD 1.5 billion for providing subsidies in agriculture and rural economies dominated by micro, small and marginal (MSM) producers in order to ensure the food security of the country. We want to urgently bring to your attention that the GoB budget for the current financial year is forced to allocate 6.20 billion USD for servicing external debts to International Financial Institutions. At this critical time if this servicing of public debts are suspended, the GoB will be able to put the amount into serving emergency health, food and agriculture sectors to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We urge all the multilateral, regional and bilateral financial institutions to follow the suggestions proposed by the World Bank and IMF and suspend servicing of the public debts for 2020, so that GoB can free its limited resources and allocate it solely for helping the people in overcoming the COVID-19 challenge. We therefore strongly demand the suspension of all instalments of public debt for at least the financial year 2020-2021 so that the country can better combat the pandemic and overcome the impact of this disaster on its citizens’ health, food and economic vulnerabilities.


THIS STATEMENT IS SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF 117 GLOBAL CSOs, BY:


  1. Hasan Mehedi, Member Secretary, Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED). Secretariat: 4 Mallick Bari Road, Boyra-Rayermahal, Khulna 9000, Bangladesh. Email: bwged.bd@gmail.com

  2. Ziaul Hoque Mukta, General Secretary, Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), Elite Daisy Paradise, Flat B5, House 839, Road 3, Baitul Aman Housing Society, Adabor, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh. Email: ziaul.mukta@gmail.com

  3. Nurul Alam Masud, General Secretary, Food Security Network (KHANI) Bangladesh, Road 8, House 560, Flat 8A, Adabor, Mohammadpur, Dhaka Bangladesh. Email: masud@pranbd.org

  4. Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, Convener, Life and Nature Safeguard Platform (LNSP), Bangladesh Supreme Court Annex Building, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Email: barua_jyotirmoy@yahoo.com

  5. Rayyan Hassan, Executive Director, NGO Forum on ADB, 85-A Masikap, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon, Kalakhang Maynila, Philippines. Email: rayyan@forum-adb.org


SIGNATORIES TO THE STATEMENT


1. 350.org, Asia

2. Aamra - Ek Sachetan Prayas, India

3. Actionaid Bangladesh

4. ADAB, Bangladesh

5. Akhil Bhartiya Prakritik Chikitsha Parishad, India

6. AOSED - An Organization for Socio-Economic Development, Bangladesh

7. Apon Foundation, Bangladesh

8. Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD)

9. Association for the Development Agencies of Bangladesh (ADAB), Bangladesh

10. ATTAC Japan

11. Bandhan, Bangladesh

12. Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Bangladesh

13. Bangladesh Krishak Federation (BKF), Bangladesh

14. Bangladesh NGO Network for Radio Communication (BNNRC), Bangladesh

15. Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), Bangladesh

16. Beyond Copenhagen Collective, India

17. BINDU (Best Initiative National Development Unification), Bangladesh

18. BRICS Feminist Watch, BRICS Countries

19. Buriganga Banchao Andolan, Bangladesh

20. Campaign for Good Governance (SUPRO), Bangladesh

21. Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL), Bangladesh

22. Center for Energy, Ecology and Development (CEED), Philippines

23. Center for Environment and Participatory Research (CEPR), Bangladesh

24. Centre for Bangladesh Studies (CBS), Bangladesh

25. Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), Sri Lanka

26. Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), India

27. Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD), Mongolia

28. Change Initiative, Bangladesh

29. Christianaid, Bangladesh

30. Civil Society Women Organization (CSWO), India

31. CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network), Bangladesh

32. Coalition for Human Rights in Development (CHRD), United States

33. COAST Trust, Bangladesh

34. Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM), India

35. Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM), International

36. Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM), Pakistan

37. CoreCarbonX,India

38. Corporate Accountability, United States

39. CSOs Network on SDGs, Mongolia

40. Development Observer NGO Coalition, Mongolia

41. Development Synergy Institute (DSI), Bangladesh

42. Digo Bikas Institute, Nepal

43. EnvironicsTrust,India

44. Equitable Cambodia

45. Equity and Justice Working Group - Bangladesh (EquityBD)

46. Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development), Belgium

47. Europe solidaire sans frontières (ESSF), France

48. Focus on the Global South, Thailand

49. Food Security Network (KHANI), Bangladesh

50. Fresh Eyes, United Kingdom

51. Friends of the Earth, United States

52. Gandhi Ashram Trust, Bangladesh

53. Gandhi International Mission, India

54. Green Advocates International, Liberia

55. Green Course, Israel

56. Growthwatch, India

57. Harijan Sevak Sangh, India

58. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

59. Human Rights Law Network, India

60. INSAF (Indian Social Action Forum), India

61. International Accountability Project (IAP), United States

62. ISDEBangladesh

63. Jamaa Resource Initiatives, Kenya

64. Japan Center for Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES), Japan

65. Jatiyo Sramik Jote, Bangladesh

66. Karavali Karnataka Janabhivridhi Vedike, India

67. Kendrio Krishak Maitree (KKM), Bangladesh

68. KRuHA (People's Coalition for the Right to Water), Indonesia

69. Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center - Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KsK), Philippines

70. Life and Nature Safeguard Platform (LNSP), Bangladesh

71. LEDARS, Bangladesh

72. Manthan Law, India

73. MarketForces,Australia

74. MAUSAMTrust,India

75. NagorikSanghati,Bangladesh

76. NagorikUddyog,Bangladesh

77. National Development Programme (NDP), Bangladesh

78. NGOForumonADB,Philippines

79. Noakhali Rural Development Society (NRDS), Bangladesh

80. Oil Change International, United States

81. OnePeople International, Sweden

82. Online Knowledge Society (OKS), Bangladesh

83. Oxfam, Bangladesh

84. Oyu Tolgoi Watch, Mongolia

85. Paani Committee, Bangladesh

86. Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, Pakistan

87. Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Pakistan

88. Paribartan - Rajshahi, Bangladesh

89. Participatory Research and Action Network (PRAN), Bangladesh

90. People’s Forum for Food Sovereignty, Mongolia

91. Prantojon Trust, Bangladesh

92. Progoti,Bangladesh

93. Progressive Plantation Workers Union (PPWU), India

94. Public Services International (National Coordinating Committee), Bangladesh

95. Recourse, Netherlands

96. Rivers without Boundaries Coalition, Mongolia

97. Right to Food Campaign - West Bengal, India

98. Rural Advancement Society (RAS), Bangladesh

99. Rural Community Development Society (RCDS), Bangladesh

100.Safety and Rights Society (SRS), Dhaka, Bangladesh

101. Saher Welfare Foundation, Pakistan.

102. Samaj Progoti Sangstha (SPS), Bangladesh

103. Serikat Nelayan (Indonesia Fisherfolk Union), Indonesia

104. Socialist Workers Association, Thailand

105. Society for Environment and Human Development (SEHD), Bangladesh

106. Society for Participatory Empowerment for Development (SPED), Bangladesh 107. Songshoptaque, Bangladesh

108. SPEED Trust, Bangladesh

109. Stiftung Asienhaus, Germany

110. Suluh Muda Indonesia

111. Urgewald,Germany

112. Uttaran, Bangladesh

113. Verein für sozial-ökologischen Wandel, Germany

114. VOICE, Bangladesh

115. Women Action Towards Economic Development (WATED), Thailand

116. Women Association for Training and Service (WATS), Nepal

117. Women’s Employment Supporting Federation, Mongolia

SEEKING ATTENTION AND ACTION OF THE FOLLOWING 33 FINANCIERS


Agence Française de Développement (AFD) | Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) | Belgian Development Cooperation (DGCD) | China Development Bank (CDB) | CIDIC Group | Citigroup | Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) | European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) | European Investment Bank (EIB) | Export Finance Australia | Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of China | Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India | Export Import (EXIM) Bank of Korea | HSBC Group | International Finance Corporation (IFC) | International Monetary Fund (IMF) | Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) Group | International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) | Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) | Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) | KfW Group | Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) | Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) | Nordic Development Fund (NDF) | Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) | OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) | Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) | Standard Chartered | Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) | Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) | United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | World Bank Group


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