Jubilee USA Network

Jubilee USA Network

Type	Non-profit
Purpose	Financial Reform / Anti-Poverty Advocacy
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Membership	Non-profits, Faith Communities and Congregations
Executive Director	Eric LeCompte
Main organ	Board of Directors
Affiliations	ActionAid International USA, AFL-CIO, American Jewish World Service, Church World Service, Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Friends of the Earth, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Mennonite Central Committee, Presbyterian Church USA, Religious Action Center of Reformed Judaism, Sojourners, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ - Neighbors in Need, United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society. (partial list)
Website	jubileeusa.org

Jubilee USA Network is a non-profit financial reform organization based in Washington D.C. Jubilee USA's work began in conjunction with the global Jubilee 2000 movement, founded in the late 1990s to advocate for debt relief for developing countries.

The name "Jubilee" is derived from the Biblical Jubilee in Leviticus, a system of debt cancellation, land restoration and liberation from bondage embedded in a 50-year cycle. Jubilee USA is located in Washington D.C. and is a coalition of approximately 75 national religious and development organizations and about 400 communities of faith across the country. It describes its mission as "building an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable."

Jubilee USA primarily advocates for financial reforms that it argues will help impoverished communities. Those reforms include rules governing "responsible lending and borrowing," halting corporate tax avoidance, particularly in the developing world, reforming international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), creating an international bankruptcy system and advancing trade policies that promote the common good.

Jubilee USA is governed by a steering committee ("Network Council") that consists of roughly 75 national organizations and a board of directors. Many of the organizations are religious, including American Jewish World Service, Church World Service, a number of Catholic orders and the national Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian, Episcopal and United Church of Christ churches. Other notable groups on the council include the AFL–CIO and ActionAid.

One of Jubilee USA's stated main goals is to promote principles of Responsible Lending and Borrowing. These principles would purportedly guide lending decisions made by governments and international financial institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Jubilee USA's Executive Director, Eric LeCompte, was part of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) working group that created a document called Principles on Promoting Sovereign Lending and Borrowing. The UNCTAD principles guide lending and borrowing decisions. For lending countries, the principles include ensuring that borrowing countries have the capacity to pay back the loan and adhering to UN sanctions. For borrowers, the principles include ensuring that information about the nature of the debt negotiations are available to all stakeholders, including citizens, as well as ensuring that governments avoid over-borrowing.