How important a role does debt relief play in reversing the trend of poverty on the African continent?
The cancellation of debt in the poorest developing countries is absolutely an obligation that the Western world should fulfill. If we were able to cancel over $30 billion of Iraqi debt overnight just because the US wanted us to, then surely the world can come together on the cancellation of African debt. That would free a good deal of money, otherwise used for servicing debt, to invest in social sectors where the needs are great. I think, however, that doubling the official development assistance to reach the famous target of 0.7% GNP [gross national product] is probably the single most important immediate response. And there we’re in trouble because the US refuses to embrace the objective. We’re surprisingly also in trouble because Canada refuses to set a timetable for that objective. The development assistance is so important because if the disease burden of a country is as high as it is in the case of these AIDS-afflicted countries, then you never get economic growth until you deal
