Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Liberia's Liberation via One.Org

One little e-mail to the International Monetary Fund**
and see how far we've come !

All I had to do was fill out a tiny bit of info requested, sign
it electronically and hold my breath. And then - the untiring
efforts of One.Org members changed the fate of the
impoverished, struggling West African nation of Liberia !
Here's the heartening e-mail I just received :


Dear Fred,

On October 26, ONE members sent emails to the International Monetary Fund asking them to make good on their promises and cancel Liberia's debt. Each individual email might not seem like much, but all together we flooded IMF's email system and it couldn't handle them all.

And it worked. We did it. We put on the pressure, and they responded. But you don't have to take my word for it.

Yesterday, Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF's External Relations, posted an open letter on the IMF's website announcing that they finally took the step necessary to move forward. Some key excerpts:

I am pleased to inform you that on November 12, 2007, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has secured adequate pledges from member countries for the cost of the IMF's debt relief to Liberia
...
We have received a large volume of emails on this topic, so this letter is being posted because it is impossible to respond to each message individually.
...
I take this opportunity to also thank all those who have expressed their concerns about Liberia's debt situation. Their strong support to the cause of debt relief contributed to the broad donor support that made this financing possible.

Check out the rest of the letter and share your thoughts with other ONE members on the ONE Blog.

Congratulations are due to everyone who got involved in this important fight. Of course there is still much to be done for Liberia's debt cancelation, but this is a major step. With Liberia's debt cancelled, the government will have an opportunity to reinvest in their people and their country's future for the first time in more than 14 years.

Thank you for your voice in this victory,

Josh Peck, ONE.org



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