Much has happened in our world in the last few months; some of it like Suharto's resignation happened in the last few days; last week's G-8 Summit some of it like the Congressional move paving way for debate on the $18 billion appropriation for the IMF happened some weeks ago; and some of it like President Clinton's visit to six African countries happened a couple months ago.  

Our challenges now must be to incorporate and use these events and the accompanying momentum to further our quest for global economic justice. But sometimes it seems that when policy-makers and even us NGO-types think and talk about economic policy, we forget that it is about people C individuals, families, and communities.   

There is plenty of talk about what will happen to the U.S. stock market if the IMF does not get its $18 billion. And to forestall any such disaster, the IMF's Managing Director, Mr. Michel "The IMF's Macroeconomic Model May Require the Sacrifice of a Generation" Camdessus, testified before Congress behind closed doors. And some folks still wonder why we say the IMF needs to be more transparent?

In all of this, there is little talk about what is happening to ordinary men and women since the Asian economic crisis. There are front page stories and evening news pictures of riots and police and military brutality in Indonesia. However, coverage of South Korea and Thailand where there is less political upheaval seems almost non-existent. In South Korea there is almost casual talk of "IMF suicides," 25 each day. In Indonesia during the so-called "IMF riots" protesting IMF-mandated austerity measures requiring an end to government subsidies on food and fuel there was widespread looting, which were referred to as "IMF survival crimes".

We fight to ensure that the "little people" are not forgotten in the frenzied talk of stock market jitters and record highs, financial crises, and capital accounts liberalization. We must keep asking why and how is Congress able to find $18billion for the IMF, but no money for debt relief, headstart, environmental protection, health care for the poor and the elderly, or for education and affordable housing.

We have to remind policy makers that IMF structural adjustment programs (SAPs) mean cuts in education which means someone's child, most likely a daughter, will never receive an education. We must remind them that cuts in health spending mean over 35,000 children die daily from curable and preventable diseases. They must not forget that cuts in food subsidies mean that millions more die from malnutrition and starvation before the age of five. Or that cuts in credit to farmers mean that food security in many countries has been decimated as more and more emphasis is placed on cash crops like coffee, cotton, cut flowers, and tobacco. Nor must they forget that the promotion of the export-oriented model of production condemns millions of 9 and 10 year-old boys, teenage girls, and young women to working in Haitian, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, and Mexican sweatshops making toys and clothing for Disney, clothing for Wal-Mart and the Gap, and sewing soccer balls.

In spite of all of this, we choose hope instead of despair. We follow Mahatma Gandhi's counsel and "light a candle, rather than curse the darkness". We know the struggle for economic justice is more than an exercise in macroeconomic models or balance of payments. It is about people's lives. It is about whether multinationals and the international financial institutions triumph or the people thrive. There are many reasons to despair, but there even more reasons to hope and keep fighting.

It is the sight of 50,000 people chanting "Cancel the Debt! Cancel the Debt"!; it is tens of thousands of students in a sit-down in the Indonesian Parliament; it is a small Liberian girl singing in a breaking voice, but full of hope about surviving and triumphing over civil war; and it is Hutu and Tutsi women dancing together as they work side by side to rebuild Rwanda.

In the coming months, within the 50 Years Is Enough Network, we will focus on ensuring that any money to the IMF is questioned and debated in the public. We will work to say NO! NO! to corporate power by defeating the MAI. We will increase people's capacity to influence and impact global economic policy by designing, creating, and expanding popular education tools for use by activists across the U.S. and around the world. In October (2-5, 1998), we will bring together activists from the world over to our annual conference, in advance of the World Bank/IMF annual meetings. The conference is being organized in collaboration with the Jubilee 2000/USA Campaign, we will learn, think, strategize, protest, and play together as we prepare for the struggles ahead. And we will continue to inform and call upon each of you to support our efforts in all these areas.

With recent staff cutbacks it will mean that we will rely on you, our members and partners, to keep this Network vibrant, engaged, and well-employed. We now have a web page located at: www.50years.org and as always the listserv. We hope you will use both to stay informed of issues, events, and actions to ensure that economic justice for all is achieved sooner rather than later.