Dieses Webinar ist Teil der erlassjahr.de-Jahrestagung „Alerta, alerta, Entschuldungsaktivista! Faire Entschuldung zwischen Multilateralismus und Nationalismus“, die vom 7.-9.11.2025 in Bonn stattfindet. Die Teilnahme am Webinar ist unabhängig von der Teilnahme an der Jahrestagung. Das Webinar findet in englischer Sprache ohne Übersetzung statt. Interessierte, die nicht vor Ort an der Jahrestagung teilnehmen, können sich über diesen Link für das Zoom-Meeting registrieren.

Beginn des Webinars: 17:00 – 18:15 Uhr

Invitation

The webinar is part of a 3-day conference organized by erlassjahr.de (Jubilee Germany): “Alerta, Alerta, Activists for Debt Justice! Fair Debt Relief between Multilateralism and Nationalism.” The conference aims to connect different perspectives on the theme from policy, activism, and academia – and also want to spotlight the experiences of civil society actors working in increasingly repressive or polarized political contexts.

Alongside the erosion of democracy and institutions in many countries, growing restrictions to the freedoms of participation and civic expression create obstacles for civil society advocacy. For a mix of political, legal and social reasons, it is becoming more difficult to engage in constructive and informed debate, and express dissent, practices that are a cornerstone enabling peoples to collectively develop responses to common challenges and evolve solutions through orderly, democratic change. These trends take place as countries debt service payments continue to grow and their fiscal space dwindles. They exacerbate difficulties in achieving broad-based social agreements on how to allocate the burdens across different sectors more fairly and make economic policymaking transparent and accountable. Advocacy on debt and equitable fiscal policies is a part and parcel of the broader civil society advocacy landscape affected by shrinking civic space.

The webinar session will offer insight into current civil society strategies in environments of shrinking civic space, especially in relation to debt advocacy, multilateral spaces like the UN and global economic institutions, and the 2025 Jubilee campaign.

The speakers will share observations on the theme from their work in different countries, addressing the following questions: What are the main indicators and facts that show civil society space is shrinking? How does the trend affect the work on debt/economic, fiscal issues? How are advocates responding to the challenges, and are there stories or strategies of creative resistance that can help show a way forward?

After initial interventions by speakers, the moderator will open the floor for Q&A and discussion.

The event will be held in English without translation.

The webinar starts at 5 pm CET (17 Uhr)

Speakers

• Eva Martínez-Acosta S., Coordinator for Economic and Gender Justice, Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales (Ecuador)
• Fr Charles Chilufya, former Director of Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network Africa
• Shereen Talaat, Director, MenaFem Movement For Economic, Development And Ecological Justice

Moderators:

• Aldo Caliari, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy, Jubilee USA
• Jürgen Kaiser, former Political Coordinator erlassjahr.de

Registration

The event will take place in Bonn and simultaneously online on Zoom. The event is open for everyone interested; participation in the webinar does not depend on participation at the erlassjahr.de annual conference.

Please register here by November 7th, 2025.