African Social Forum
Lusaka, Zambia
14 December 2004
[
http://www.cadtm.org/article.php3?id_article=1011]
The following statement, in response to the news that the U.K. andthe U.S. goverments are offering different proposals aimed at 100% multilateral debt cancellation, was circulated at the African Social Forum in Lusaka, Zambia.
The endorsements below were gathered in a few hours; more will undoubtedly be forthcoming as the statement's circulation broadens.
We Demand Full Multilateral Debt Cancellation for Africa and the Global South
Drop the Debt 100%--All Impoverished Countries--No Economic Conditions!.
As civil society organizations from across the continent of
Africa, we are confronted every day by the devastating reality of
the crisis of debt. Debt payments to wealthy institutions like the
IMF and World Bank rob our countries of resources we desperately
need to provide health care, fight HIV/AIDS, provide education,
and make available clean water. Debt is a tool of domination used
by rich country governments and creditors like the IMF and World
Bank. Conditions attached to debt relief and loans are devastating
our economies and undermining our choices as sovereign nations.
For impoverished nations, multilateral creditors--in particular the IMF and World Bank--are the largest creditors. They are also the most powerful: because of their "preferred creditor" status, countries must pay their dbts back first to these institutions. If countries do not pay, they are penalized and excluded from most forms of aid and assistance.
The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
(HIPC
) Initiative was launched
by the World Bank in 1996 to provide a "robust exit" to the crisis
of debt faced by impoverished nations. Eight years on, the program
has failed to achieve this goal. HIPC has provided too little
relief, to too few countries, with devastating conditions. It is
time to move beyond the failed HIPC Initiative towards another
approach: Full (100%) multilateral debt cancellation for all
impoverished nations, without harmful conditions.
We are aware of discussions going on now within the G-7 (in
particular proposals by the UK and US governments), the IMF and
World Bank, and other forums about possibilities for 100% (full)
multilateral debt cancellation. We are encouraged that after many
years of half-measures, full cancellation is being discussed at
these levels. However, we must be clear about the principles for
such discussions to meet the goals and aspirations of African
civil society.
First, 100% multilateral debt cancellation is critical. Attempts
to determine a "sustainable" level of debt for impoverished
nations desperately trying to address the crises of HIV/AIDS and
economic injustice should be rejected. For impoverished nations
struggling to meet the human needs of their peoples, full 100%
multilateral debt cancellation is the only option.
Second, this cancellation must come without any economic
conditionalities. The HIPC program and PRSPs are riddled with
conditions such as privatization, indiscriminate trade
liberalization, opening up markets, fiscal and monetary targets.
These conditions have devastated our economies long enough. Debt
cancellation must come without any economic conditions attached.
Moreover, we reject and find that the IMF's Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility (PRGF) must be dismantled and abolished. The PRGF
is not a force for development in our countries; the conditions
attached to loans from this facility have devastated our
economies. It is time to end the role of the IMF in poor
countries once and for all; closing the PRGF is a critical first
step towards doing this.
Third, multilateral debt cancellation must apply to all
impoverished nations, not just the 42 HIPC nations. We reject
proposals which only address countries that have reached HIPC
"completion point." Many countries would be excluded from this
approach. Moreover, non-HIPC countries must be included in efforts
towards 100% debt cancellation. Countries including Haiti,
Jamaica, and Nigeria are not part of HIPC, despite their extreme
indebtedness.
Finally, we think that the multilateral financial institutions
should do their fair share, and should contribute the bulk of the
resources to finance debt cancellation. The IMF and World Bank are
two of the richest financial institutions in the world. The IMF
sits atop more than $30 billion in gold which currently serves no
productive purpose. The IMF could sell this gold and use proceeds
to cover debt owed to the World Bank and other multilaterals. The
IBRD could easily mobilize more than $10 billion in accumulated
profits and reserves and could commit a share of its annual
multi-billion dollar profit to debt cancellation. The IMF should
close down the PRGF facility and use its resources to cancel IMF
debt. These are wealthy institutions; it is high time for them to
do their fair share and by paying for debt cancellation, begin to
acknowledge their role and responsibility in the debt crisis.
We do not believe that concerns about the "additionality" of debt
cancellation should be allowed to postpone the full cancellation
of the multilateral debt.
Cancellation is significantly more valuable to our peoples than additional aid. Aid comes with its own conditions, and often creates more debt.
The resources realized from debt cancellation can be used as governments -- with
ample interventions from civil society -- see fit. Aid is a
promise we have seen broken far too often; cancellation's benefits
would be lasting.
Endorsed by the following debt campaigners:
Tafadzwa Muropa -Zimbabwe
Sy Koumbo S. Gale -Chad
Constancia de Pina -Cape Verde
James Kazhiki _Zambia
Godfrey Mfiti Malawi
Rev, Lumu Shabani Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Benoit Essiga CGT Liberte-Cameroon
Hassan Sayouty-Espace Associatif Maroc--Morocco
Demba Moussa Dembele Forum for African Alternatives-Sengegal
Taoufik BenAbdallah-ENDA-Sengegal
Engudat Bekele-PAC-Ethiopia
Bakary Fofana-CECIDE-Guinea
Archinson Mhlata-PCO-South Africa
Pat Dooms-Orange Farm Vision-South Africa
Dao Dounantie- Jublie 2000/CAD-Mali
Kone Solange -FNDP/ASAPSU--Cote de'Ivoire
Dieng Amady Aly -Forum de Tiers Monde -Senegal
Seydou Ndiaye -ACAPES-Senegal
Abubacar Ndiaye, RADI- Senegal