Finance ministers of the member states of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation have adopted the bylaws establishing the Common Leveraging Union of Borrowers (CLUB) which is a union of sovereign debtors that aims to pool capacities of member states to reduce external debt burdens.
The union will also help secure more favourable fresh financing that is conducive to transformative, sustainable and multidimensional development through borrower-coordination and collective negotiations with creditors.
The meeting took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the invitation of Secretary-General Manssour Bin Mussallam, in fulfilment of the General Assembly resolution of December 2021.
A joint statement issued by the ministers called for creditors to work together with debtors - in the spirit of equality amongst parties, equity in their relations, and solidarity instead of charity - to achieve an international financial architecture which reflects the perspectives and interests of our countries of the South, serves the human dimension of our development endeavours, and works to the benefit of all parties.
The ministers invited all countries of the Global South to seek membership in the CLUB, and called upon all other international organisations and initiatives - both inter- and non- governmental - to join efforts with, the CLUB as the sovereign debtors' instrument of the Global South, established in the spirit of a mutually beneficial partnership of equals and designed to address the imbalances in the relations and levels of development between the North and the South.
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As representatives of member states of the OSC who simultaneously are members of the Group of 77 and of the Non-Aligned Movement - both of which shall be under the chairmanship from January 2024 onwards, of Uganda, a founding state of the OSC - the ministers called the aforementioned groups to engage proactively with the OSC, and, in particular, the CLUB, to achieve our shared aspirations.
The ministers underlined the fact that the OSC's ultimate goal does not run contrary to its standing commitments nor to any particular set of stakeholders, and is entirely directed towards the achievement of authentic development, through strategic investments in sovereignty-enhancing sectors, with an international financial architecture that serves not only our own interests, but also those of the Peoples of the world both in the South and in the North.
The Council of Ministers of Finance will meet regularly to assess developments in the international financial system, determine the direction and course of their efforts, and interact with the Secretary-General of the OSC for the implementation of decisions taken.
The formation of the CLUB further supports the transformative nature of the OSC's third way of development and underscore the need for a sustainable and robust development in the Global South that will not only benefit member states but also contribute to the overall well-being of humanity, fostering opportunities through South-South cooperation, Southern integration, and reducing migratory pressure on the youth in the Global South in the medium to long term.
