The outbreak of COVID-19 has reminded us what is really important – looking after each other and our communities, our health and well-being, our public services. Now, as Scotland moves past a peak of infections, our attention turns to what comes next The choices made by the government now will affect our communities and our climate for generations to come. 

The recovery plan must lay the foundations of a greener, fairer Scotland for everyone. Where we reduce inequalities, strengthen public services and provide an adequate income for everyone. Where we do our fair share of climate action and restore nature. Where we all have a say in decisions that affect us.

We are proud to stand with over 80 organisations in Scotland calling for a Just and Green Recovery in Scotland. Together, we wrote to the First Minister outlining five steps for the recovery which you can read here.

This is just the beginning, we need to grow and show public support for a recovery that helps us transform our society for the better

Will you join Scotland’s movement to Build Back Better?

Sign the petition here!

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Oxfam International’s Head of Washington DC Office, Nadia Daar, said:

“We commend Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the HFSC, for advancing this crucial reform agenda at the IFC where the US remains the largest shareholder, and applaud IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou for his leadership in making these reforms possible. This is a huge step forward not just for the IFC, but for how we understand the role of the private sector in development.”

“This historic decision from the IFC will ensure its investments support improvements in education without excluding children or impoverishing families. Public aid money should not be used to fund corporate-backed private school chains that fuel inequality. Other donor agencies and governments now need to follow suit.”

This freeze is in response to concerns raised by 170 organizations, including Jubilee Scotland who called on the World Bank to end support for these forms of private education that profit on the exploitation of poor children, creating wider inequality. We called for expansions of public education that everyone can access- instead of ‘low-fee private schools’ which exclude girls, impoverished children and paid extremely low wages to under qualified teachers. In Uganda and Kenya, these schools have been accused of refusing to comply with minimum government education standards.

In addition to the freeze the IFC announced an evaluation of its investments in private schools by the World Bank’s independent evaluation group. Oxfam have stated that the COVID-19 Pandemic cannot be used by any donor as an excuse to invest in for-profit education, with the need for these organisations to financing to help countries meet educational needs of millions of children out of school with no access to online classes, tutors or computers.

This move by the bank has been a good start for ending private financing that negatively impacts communities while letting private companies profit. It is time for the UK to take out their investment in these schools that are part of this problem, especially when this investment is supposed to be providing aid.

The Guardian published an article this weekend that focuses on the UK’s current position on this issue.

“The Department for International Development (DfID) has given millions of pounds to low-fee private schools (LFPS) in countries around the world, including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Pakistan. It believes the money can help improve the educational prospects of children in places where public-sector schools are poor or lacking.

But the funding, some of it channelled through DfID’s private investment arm, CDC, has proved controversial. Among those that have received UK taxpayer cash are the private school chain Bridge International Academies (BIA) which has also been the recipient of money from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.”

Bridge International Academies runs low-cost schools with the UK investing £12.3 in the company. Last year a World Bank watchdog, the Compliance Adviser Ombudsman (CAO) investigated BIA’s operations in Kenya and found allegations of human rights abuses, poor working conditions, discrimination, lack of transparency and intimidation, as well as concerns about pay, health and safety and sanitation.

At the time the DFID said they would investigate the situation, something which they are continuing to work on with the WBG. But this should be a sign that the policy of DFID investing aid money in Public Private Partnerships can can lead to situations like this. PPPs and their lack of accountability and transparency have led to fee-paying schools with questionable quality popping up in countries which need to fight for free and universal education.

Linda Oduor-Noah, project manager at East African Campaign for Human Rights commented “We have heard first-hand from other investors that they are keenly awaiting the outcome of the investigation,”she said. “I would like Bridge to respect human rights and I think that no for-profit entity should masquerade as having social agenda, when at the end of the day profit drives all decision making. People involved in the provision of public goods should never endeavour to make profit off the poor.” Bridge Schools have had a researcher arrested and have lobbied the investigation of the issues of their schools. The reseracher they arrested, Curtis Riep made the recommendation to not fund Bridge Schools as they neglect legal standards while driving profit, a clear case of a PPP that starts with an altrustic goal that become consumed by profit margins as time goes on.

As a private company they have produced research and press releases justifying the existence of PPPs that come off as strange and potentially misleading PR moves. In one report produced by BIA about the British public’s support and approval of Privately provided education in foreign countries, they say that over half of people are in support of these type of schools. They’ve done the same for the public opinon of USA citizens, but the reports use leading questions that doesn’t show any transparency of what these private schools actually are like.

These reports don’t talk about the actual work they do, but just dress up some market research, that makes it look like people are in favor of this, but It’s hard to say that the every-man on the street in any English speaking country has enough information to make a valid assessment of the issues surrounding privatization of education in Africa. With statistics that look good, they can claim that people approve of what they do without shedding much light on it at all or twisting figures and claims. They asked people if a social enterprise company like them should run schools that cost parents about $7 US dollars a month, in countries where there is a lack of other schools. Of course this sounds like a great idea when you think about what that amount of money means to you, but this is without mentioning that $7 can be a huge amount of a persons income in these countries. The teachers at these Schools work up to 65 hours per week and only take away $100 per month. In Kenya, sending three children to a Bridge school is estimated to represent almost a third of the monthly income of families living on $1.25 (94p) a day, according to a joint study by Kenya National Union of Teachers and Education International, a federation representing 32 million teachers and support staff. Instead of spending time

The European investment bank financed Bridge International Academies Ltd (BIA) through an equity fund, who became involved in a controversial PPP educational project in Liberia. Indeed, the Liberian government outsourced the lion share of its public pre-primary and primary schools to BIA, but the process was not competitive, local communities were not properly consulted, and there was not full transparency.

This is just one of many providing this form of private-for-profit education, PPPs in Africa that provide public services in a way that makes it harder to make people accountable when they can’t meet standards that they promised. The issues is that many countries can’t offer a full education system alone without some reform of the corruption within their society, in places like Liberia the education system has been broken for years. Private alternatives are marginally better for learning outcomes, but still fail students on basic human rights and protections from abuse.

The steps that the World Bank group have taken are great and hopefully open up a conversation about how to ensure the education in the global south can thrive and not be used as a tool to drive profit. But this is an issue that should be closely watched. While our government uses PPPs to provide part of our education infrastructure with mixed results, handing a contract over to private companies to overhaul a whole system in places like the Global South edges out what the ultimate aim should be in these places – quality universal free education for all children.

This article was initially posted on our Medium.com blog.

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During its months of negotiations with creditors the Greek government has dealt with on-going assaults to its democratically elected mandate to reverse austerity. The ECB continues to hold critical relief funds to ransom even as the country faces an on going humanitarian crisis.

These protracted negotiations with creditors should be a visceral reminder that debt is about power. For far too long creditor countries have been unaccountable for irresponsible lending while debtor countries are at the mercy of their creditors when it comes to attempts to restructure or cancel debts.

As part of the international debt justice movement we have been part of the decades long call for the creation of an international forum for dealing with the resolution of sovereign debt. Last September the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the creation of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt workout.

Momentum for this process at the UN is a huge step forward for the debt justice movement but the UK, US and the EU bloc among other rich nations are refusing to participate in negotiations to further develop the framework. They want any sovereign debt workout mechanism to fall under the remit of IMF where they hold significantly more power. While not perfect the UN is still a far more legitimate forum for a sovereign debt workout that is fair, impartial and takes human rights and environmental considerations into account.

It should not take a financial crisis or natural disaster before governments are given the opportunity to fairly cancel or restructure debt to meet citizens needs and uphold human rights.

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Argentina has fallen prey to a bunch of hedge funds known as ‘vulture funds’. Taking advantage of the precarious financial situations of some States, these vulture funds buy debts at a discounted price on a secondary market and then sue the debtors for the initial amount to which they add interests, penalties, and legal expenses.

Vulture funds, which are usually based in tax havens, can thus make huge benefits to the detriment of populations, as in the case of NML and Aurelius, have just won a dramatic victory in a US court.

After the 2001 crisis, in 2005 and 2010, 93% of private creditors agreed to reduce Argentina’s trade debt by 70% after the country had suspended payment in order to be able to meet the basic needs of its population. NML and Aurelius Capital refused to take part in these negotiations and sued Argentina in New York courts where they were granted the right to demand $1.33 billion, i.e. an added value of 1,600%.
Argentina is not the only country affected by this kind of legal swindle. It is critical that laws against vulture funds are passed as soon as possible. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has also been sentenced by US courts to pay vulture funds. Europe is concerned too. Greece has already been attacked.

Vulture funds are only the tip of the iceberg. What is hidden below, the entire debt system, presents equally perilous threats. This year we commemorate the 70th anniversary of IFIs, the IMF and the World Bank, institutions who continue to demand repayment of odious, illegal and illegitimate debts, impose austerity measures, violate human rights, and create poverty. Vulture funds are not the only birds of prey around!

To fight back, we call upon all to mobilize during the global week of action against the debt and the IFIs. The 15th of October is the 27th anniversary of the assassination of Thomas Sankara, the Burkinabé leader who paid with his life for his refusal to repay sovereign debts and to accept the policies enforced by the IFIs.

We call upon all international associations and movements to join in this GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION AGAINST THE DEBT AND THE IFIs, 8 to 15 October, to end the dictatorship of the debt, the perverse mechanisms of micro-credit (11 October), and the free-trade agreements such as CETA or TTIP (11 October). We demand

– laws against vulture funds [#stop vulture funds]

– citizens’ audits of the debt to identify and consequently cancel all odious, illegal and illegitimate debts

– acknowledgement of countries’ sovereign right to take unilateral measures to default on their debts so as to meet their commitments in terms of environmental and human rights

– the setting up of an international tribunal of the debt that ensures that priority is given to human rights above the rights of creditors

– a new global and regional financial architecture that gives priority to people and the planet before creditors’ profits and corporate power

– a fair and progressive tax system.

Stand up against vulture fund and illegitimate debt!

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