Press release for immediate release
Date 28 June 2025
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Campaigners from over twenty organisations staged a giant game of Jenga on London’s South Bank today to raise awareness of the global debt crisis facing lower-income countries and to call on the UK government to do more to cancel unjust debt.
The protest took place on the eve of the UN Financing for Development summit in Seville, a once in ten-year event. Developing country governments have been pushing for new laws to help cancel unjust debt and a new UN debt framework to help end current and future debt crises in the run up to the conference.
Over 40 protests took place around the world. Campaigners are calling for world leaders to do more to address the global debt crisis affecting over 3.4 billion people.
One of the organisers of today’s action, Heid Chow, Executive Director at Debt Justice, said:
“The game of Jenga demonstrates what happens when huge debt payments are extracted from lower income country budgets – toppling economies and triggering cuts in health and education spending. Leaders from countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America have delivered a powerful demand for new debt justice laws in places like the UK that will prevent their countries being sued by lenders. It’s critical that our government listens to and supports this call.”
Notes
Debt Justice (formerly Jubilee Debt Campaign) is a UK charity working to end poverty caused by unjust debt through education, research and campaigning: https://debtjustice.org.uk/
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1) The Financing for Development Confernce is taking place over four days in Seville. https://financing.desa.un.org/ffd4
2) Organisations involved in the coalition include Debt Justice, Christian Aid, Cafod (the Catholic relief and development agency), Debt for Climate, The Climate Justice Coalition, Positive Money and Sciaf (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund). In addition, the following organisations joined the stunt: Project Everyone, Save the children, Malala Fund, Global Justice Now, Muslims Charities Forum, Climate Save Gambia, Fossil Free Parliament, Tipping Point, and Faith for Climate.
3) More than 3.4 billion people now live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on health or education according to the United Nations https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1165051
4) Photos from the stunt can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KCoc04d2d2P7ovCpxZbqyNKO1Qyf3eUN?usp=sharing Photographer credit: Jess Hurd