2010-01-27 12:51:04

Petition and Calls for Haiti's foreign debt to be cancelled


(January 27, 2010) Churches, aid agencies and poverty campaigners are calling on the international community to cancel Haiti's foreign debt. The World Council of Churches general secretary Rev Dr Olav Fykse Tveit said: "an immediate and full cancellation" of Haiti's foreign debt would be "only an initial step" as the quake-stricken country "needs a broader plan to support recovery, poverty eradication and sustainable development" Tveit said in a statement on Tuesday. Such a plan must be developed with the full ownership of the people of Haiti and with the support of the international community under the coordination of the United Nations, Tveit said. In addition to debt cancellation and short-term emergency relief, Haiti needs "reconstruction and sustainable development in the medium and long term." But "any financial assistance should come in the shape of grants, not loans that would burden the country with more debt" the WCC statement says. In the meantime a one-day conference hosted by the Canadian government to discussed Haiti's reconstruction. Foreign ministers from more than a dozen countries, notably the United States and France, along with eight international bodies including banks and six major non-governmental organizations attended the gathering in Montreal. Haiti, the most impoverished nation in the western hemisphere, is also a heavily indebted country.







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