|
COIVD-19 has highlighted our connectedness as a global community, and while it is true that COVID-19 knows no borders, the virus has accelerated dire crises in many countries around the world. Economic aid is necessary to bring countries on the brink of disaster back, and it can be made available in the form of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In fact, developing nations have been requesting this aid since mid-March. Congress has been standing in the way of this much needed lifeline to fight COVID-19 and stabilize economies in developing countries. As such, we need to urge our Senators and representatives to endorse bills in H.R. 6581 in the House and S.4139 in the Senate that would instruct the U.S. representative at the IMF to vote to release the funds!
The 2006 Annual Conference Resolution: A Call to Reduce Global Poverty and Hunger reminds us that “Economic institutions should promote the capacity, willingness, and likelihood of peoples to embrace economic equity at the expense of material self-aggrandizement; to substitute for selfish competition, cooperation to meet the needs of one another; to implement justice toward other classes, nationalities, and ‘enemies’ by sharing wealth and power in practical ways and to build community, nurtured by local roots and encompassing all humanity.”
Now more than ever, we must work together as a global community to face this shared enemy. As fostering community is inherent in Brethren tradition, it is our duty to ensure that countries in need receive the necessary aid to address this pandemic in a timely and life-saving fashion.
As such, take action now tell Congress to issue these much-needed funds to adequately fight COVID-19 in various countries, save lives, and ensure that all countries are able to adequately address this pandemic as a global community.
You can look up your legislator here.
|
