A Victory in Cancelling International Debt

New Action:

From American Jewish World Service:

magine a world free of poverty, where every child has the opportunity to go to school; every family has access to clean water and health care. Debt relief for poor countries is one of the keys to making this vision a reality, and last week President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair brought 18 countries a step closer to this vision. However, there is still work left to do.

Take action now to thank the President for taking a huge step towards making poverty history, but remind him that the work is not finished.

Many countries are forced to spend millions of dollars to pay interest on decades-old debts, spending six times as much on debt service as they do on health care and education combined. Canceling their debt would allow poor countries to focus on lifting themselves out of poverty instead of giving money to international creditors. Limited debt relief programs have already achieved impressive results: Mozambique introduced free immunizations for children; Tanzania abolished primary school fees; and in Uganda, over 2 million people have gained access to clean water.

Last week, we won a huge victory when President Bush and Prime Minister Blair agreed to 100% debt cancellation for 18 countries. However, they left out dozens of countries equally in need of debt relief. Among the countries that were left out are Haiti - the poorest country in the Americas, Sri Lanka - which is struggling to rebuild following the tsunami, and South Africa - a nation that is paying back billions of dollars of apartheid era debt even as it races to treat the largest HIV+ population in the world. Please take a moment to thank the President for his leadership, but at the same time remind him that there is still much work to do.