How you can help to drop the debt

Edmund Woodfield argues that the UK is reducing the impact of its debt cancellation by demanding unfair conditions, but there are ways that you can help.

''When Zambia had unfair conditions attached to its debt relief it had to cut spending on education, leaving thousands of teachers unpaid.''

Great progress was made for anti-poverty campaigners in 2005, and the area of debt cancellation was no exception. The ‘Paris Club’ of rich nations promised to cancel huge amounts of the poorest countries’ debts – around $50 billion is to be cancelled.

However, the small print behind these impressive figures means that the benefits of the cancellation are lessened. For example, when Zambia had unfair conditions attached to its debt relief it had to cut spending on education, leaving thousands of teachers unpaid.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign is currently campaigning to ‘Cut the Strings’ attached to debt relief. A petition calling for the Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, to stop these harmful conditions, is available to print off its website. Action cards to send to Hilary Benn can also be ordered by emailing the campaign.

Don’t forget that the best way of getting your message across to politicians is to write to them in your own words. If you write to Hilary Benn, you can expect to receive a reply signed by him personally, so why not give it a go?

Also, consider writing to your own MP asking them to raise these issues with Mr Benn. Remember, it costs just 23p to send a letter, but your actions could mean thousands more children have the opportunity to go to school, or thousands more people are able to receive healthcare.

Debt cancellation shouldn’t be an issue. It ought to be taken for granted that poor countries should not have to give $100 million per day to the rich world. But until it is, campaigners across the country will have to continue pressuring the government to drop the debt.

These are the words of the president of Tanzania: “I encourage you in your advocacy for total debt cancellation for poor countries because, frankly, it is a scandal that we are forced to choose between basic health and education for our people and repaying historical debt." It’s hard to argue with that.