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Stank voor Bank:
action2weeks
This
is a translation of the text of a leaflet produced by the Dutch group
'Stank voor Bank'. 'Stank voor Bank' roughly translates to 'stink of the
bank'.
From
the 26th till the 28th of September the annual meeting of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Worldbank is going to take place in Prague.
Obviously there will be actions in Prague. Memories are still fresh on
the actions against the IMF/WB in Washington and the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) in Seattle. All over the world protests against IMF and
Worldbank projects are continually taking place. These institutions are
also supported by the Dutch government and a number of Dutch banks are
involved. The meeting of the WB and IMF is a wonderful opportunity to
inform people about the activities of these institutions. September 26th
will be the fourth international day of actions against Capitalism. Previous
days of action were June 18th (during a G7 meeting in Koln), November
30th (during a WTO meeting in Seattle) last year and May 1st this year.
With this letter we call for an action period from the 9th till the 26th
of September and ask groups and individuals to participate by organising
actions and information meetings in this period and to join the platform
'Stank voor Bank'. The action2weeks will start with a streetrave in Nijmegen
on the 9th of September and will end in a public manifestation for the
direct abolition of the IMF and the Worldbank. In Amsterdam, Utrecht and
Leiden people are preparing actions which will take place in these weeks
too. The action2weeks will focus on the Dutch bankworld (see backside
of this letter). Preparations for going to Prague and doing actions there
are also already in progress.
Background
The main task of the Worldbank is: 'To fight poverty and protect the environment.'
Therefore she has acquired the role of financing 'development programs'
by issuing loans to developing countries. Before a country is even considered
for a loan, it has to meet a number of criteria
which are formulated together with the IMF, the so called Structural Adjustment
Programmes (SAP's). To meet these criteria the debt of the country is
decreased by reducing government financing (mainly on social programmes),
increasing production for export, privatising and
liberalising trade and investments. Using the services of the Worldbank
has resulted in many countries in a complete breakdown of purchasing power,
famine, the closing down of hospitals and schools and the taking away
of the right to basic education for hundreds of millions of children.
The breakdown of healthcare has resulted in the return of lethal epidemics
which were contained for many years. In addition the support of large
scale hydropower and agro-industrial projects has speeded up the deforestation
and destruction of the environment, while poverty increased. Three examples
have been included on the backside of this letter. The
policy of the Worldbank, IMF and other world-wide institutes (like the
World Trade Organisation, WTO) is mainly based on the 'free-market ideology'.
In general this means that the rich become richer and the poor become
poorer. People will have less and less influence on these developments.
Policy is increasingly decided from above, by organisations which consider
'the free market' as the ultimate solution to every problem and which
are not controllable by others.
More information
Unfortunately it is impossible to be complete in one letter. If you want
more information about the 'Stank voor Bank' platform write to: Stank
voor Bank, PO box 2228, 2301 CE Leiden the Netherlands or stank@dds.nl.
We have a website: http://huizen.dds.nl/~stank
Further
information can be found at: http://www.50years.org,
http://www.ecn.cz/inpeg
and http://x21.org/s26
For direct abolition of the IMF and WB! For more influence on our own
life! For a world without borders and without capitalism! Stop banknuisance,
poverty & exclusion!
Stank voor Bank is a platform consisting of various groups, organisations
and individuals which stands for fight against capitalism and demands
direct abolition of non-democratic institutions like the IMF, WB and WTO.
People of the platform can be asked to speak on information evenings,
a video and posters are available and an information package is worked
on for the mobilisation for the action2weeks.
Stank voor Bank, PO box 2228, 2301 CE Leiden the Netherlands or stank@dds.nl
What's wrong with the Worldbank and the IMF, some examples:
Russia
The IMF
is partly responsible for the serious depression in Russia Russia has
been witnessing an economic crises of a scale unheard of untill now, from
the moment the IMF became active in Russia. The number of Russians living
in poverty has increased from 2 million to 60 million. The
shocktherapy of the IMF, the sudden and quick imposing of structural reforms,
has been partly responsible. Demands like the rapid privatising of industry
has led to an explosion of corruption and organised crime.
The position of women
Problems created by cutting government financing of projects as is demanded
by Structural Adjustment Programmes, are shouldered mainly by women. When
the costs of decent education increase, first of all the girls are taken
from school. After the disapearance of social services, it is
expected of women to take care of children, elderly people, the ill and
handicapped. Women are also victims of forced policies to diminish the
rights of employees, it's mostly women that work in so called 'sweatshops'.
The lack of possibilities to earn a decent income results for example
in an increasing number of women and girls working as prostitutes.
Landrights of indigenous people and protection of the environment
In the Philippines In 1994, the Worldbank payed the Philippine government
20 million American dollars to finance a 7 year project to protect the
Philippine flora and fauna. Because of this project, the NIPAS (National
Integrated Protected Areas System), about 2 million indigenous people
are restricted in their freedom and sustainability by prohibiting entrance
to such areas. These protected areas are unnecessary because the people
are living there in an ecologically sustainable way for generations. Scientists,
however, are permitted to enter these areas for research and find and
patent commercially attractive plant species. The NIPAS makes it
impossible for the Cordillera people to live an autonomous life: their
inherited land and knowledge is being stolen and exploited. A hypocrite
environment protection project that floats on capitalist motives, initiated
because the rest of the country has been destroyed by woodcutting for
mining.
For direct abolition of the IMF and WB!
For more influence on our own life!
For a world without borders and without capitalism!
Stop banknuisance, poverty & exclusion!
The Dutch banks
The Dutch banks: ING bank, Financing-Society for Developing countries
(FMO), ABN-AMRO bank and the Rabobank, belong to the top ten stockholders
in the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the part of the Worldbank
that issues loans to companies. The IFC is also the main source of direct
investment in projects of companies in the Third World. Loans, partly
financed with government money, are being given to lucrative projects.
As a result, much needed development projects that wont lead to direct
profit (like healthcare, education, social services for the poor, etc)
are not even considered for loans. On top of that, this part of the Worldbank
is
not bound by the paper policies of the Worldbank on environment, womens
rights, indigenous people, disclosing information about loans, etc.
Stank voor Bank, PO box 2228, 2301 CE Leiden the Netherlands or
stank@dds.nl
http://huizen.dds.nl/~stank
action period from the 9th till the 26th of September
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