MANY TO MANY 65 – Putting Life before Debt

Issue 65
Sept 1998
Putting Life before Debt

Putting Life before Debt

International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE) and Carita Internationalis have recently issued a report entitled 'Putting Life before Debt', which outlines the debt relief measures suggested by the Debt Jubilee in 2000 Campaign. These include:

* improvements to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF);

* linking debt cancellation with investment in human development;

* ensuring that decisions on debt relief are made in a transparent manner, and

* establishing a fair process for negotiation between debtors and creditors.

During a panel discussion (7 May 1998, New York) the Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN acknowledged the campaign's "firm grounding in values promoting the common good", and pointed out that while it did not ask for a 'blanket forgiveness' of all government debt, it did urge an examination of such debts from a moral perspective, clarifying who incurred the debt, who profits and who is paying for it. "When basic social services are cut, in favour of debt repayment, it is the poorest who pay", he said.

The Minister Counsellor at the Philippines Mission to the UN suggested an 'automatic stand-still option' rather than outright repudiation, while the debt is being examined and restructured. He also hoped that NGOs would "continue their advocacy work since governments will begin negotiations on financing for development at the end of 1998."

From: GO Between 69, May-July 1998.
Contact: Caritas Internationalis, 16 Piazzo San Calisto, 1-00153 Rome, Italy.
Fax: +39-6/6988 7237.

Many to Many
a quarterly publication issued by
Operation Peace through Unity
An accredited NGO in association with the UN Dept of Public Information

Anthony Brooke and Gita Brooke, co-founders
Te Rangi, 4 Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand
phone/fax: +64-6-345-5714 ~ e-mail: larrym@clear.net.nz

Many to Many
under the aegis of
Operation Peace Through Unity
is a communicating link between
'we, the peoples' of all nations, races, creeds and ideologies offering in the spirit of the preamble of the United Nations Charter an instrument for the furthering of better relationships based on deepening mutual understanding and the aspiration to promote unity and cooperation beyond all differences.