DEBT CAMPAIGNERS EXPOSE FLAWS IN G8 DEBT PROPOSAL
Posted on July 6 2005 |
Campaigners from five continents gathered in Edinburgh are saying that the G8 debt relief proposals do not go far enough and have strings attached.
Under pressure from campaigners the G8 has tabled a new debt cancellation proposal. Campaigners say it goes further than previous schemes but is by no means the comprehensive solution that the G8 is claiming. It will not make poverty history.
The proposals cover only a limited number of countries, home to just 5% of the world’s poor.
Governments in many of the countries included in the proposal will continue paying debt service to some creditors.
Lidy Nacpil, international coordinator of Jubilee South, said, ‘The conditionalities attached to debt cancellation will exacerbate poverty rather than end it.’
Charity Musamba of Jubilee Zambia said, ‘Debt cancellation is no longer an economic issue but more of a political one. All it requires is the political will of the G8 for it to be achieved.’
Ben Young of Jubilee Scotland said: ‘This deal will leave millions in poverty. The hundreds of thousands of people mobilised on these issues are being cheated by the G8 leaders’.
The press conference is co-sponsored by:
Jubilee South CADTM International Network Jubilee Zambia Debt and Development Coalition Ireland Jubilee South Africa Freedom from Debt Coalition Philippines African Forum on Alternatives Red Jubilee Perú Jubilee Debt Campaign UK Jubilee Scotland Jubilee USA Network EURODAD Jubilee Norway ATTAC Germany
For interviews with international debt campaigners, please contact:
Caroline Pearce (00 44) (0)7791 971 890, or Ben Young on (00 44) (0)7913 040 877
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