TAKE ACTION: CALL ON THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO TACKLE TRADE MISINVOICING AND UNJUST DEBT

In August, ACTSA published The Money Drain: How Trade Misinvoicing and Unjust Debt Undermine Economic and Social Rights in Southern Africa. This major report finds that Southern Africa loses around US$30 billion annually in trade-related illicit outflows and external government debt payments. At the same time, governments in the region are struggling to realise the economic and social rights of their citizens.

Please write to your Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), and ask that they call on the European Parliament’s Committee on Development to discuss The Money Drain and adopt the report’s recommendations.

You can find your MEPs on the European Parliament’s website here.

Here is a suggestion for what your email/letter may say:

Dear MEPs

As my representatives in the European Parliament, I am writing to you regarding Action for Southern Africa’s (ACTSA) recent report ‘The Money Drain: How Trade Misinvoicing and Unjust Debt Undermine Economic and Social Rights in Southern Africa’ (the report is available here: https://actsa.org/the-money-drain/).

In my view it is appalling that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region loses US$8.8 billion in trade-related illicit outflows, and US$21.1 billion in external government debt payments, per year. Governments in Southern Africa are struggling to realise the economic and social rights of their citizens, and these huge financial outflows are clearly diminishing the resources available to governments in the region.

I am requesting you to call on the European Parliament’s Committee on Development to formally discuss the issues raised in ‘The Money Drain’ in a committee meeting and to seriously consider adopting the report’s recommendations in full.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS]