Dear Cindy and all, First, I must take exception to your absolute affirmation that "Cancelling debts would not solve the problems in poor countries." I think each country must be examined individually. In some it will work, in others it may not have all the desired effect. But the alternative is to maintain these countries living from welfare, thus, continuing the drain of resources which you are trying to avoid. That is why the Poverty Reduction Strategies play such an important role. Honduras has been involved in the Debt Cancellation movement since 2001. After 4 years of great hardships for the common people of this poor country, the debt cancellation has finally been approved just now. During that time, the people have payed more in debt interests than the total amount cancelled. I say the people have payed it because we have been bled with high taxes in order to not-default. For instance, we have the most expensive gasoline in the hemisphere because of these high taxes. Gasoline taxes are hard on poor people because they make everything more expensive and they limit the competitiveness of a nation's economy. On the other hand, during those 4 years and thanks to the process, the participation of Civil Society in the poverty reduction strategy has increased. If it is still not all that it could be, at least there is now an open door and it can become more decisive. So if you have doubts on debt cancelation, here is one point that you should be in favor: Using the "carrot" of debt cancellation to force social issues and participation in government decisions. Naturally, there must be social auditing of the projects and of the organizations, governmental or NGOs, that take part in the poverty reduction programs. All that has to be part of the Poverty Reduction Strategy. I'm e-copying this chat to someone who is more knoledgeable than myself in hopes that he will correct or add to the discussion. Sincerely Jorge
--- Cindy Lemcke-Hoong <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello Jorge, Taran > > Watching Life 8 yesterday, and listening to > interviews of some people who are involved with NGOs > work, some of their concerns parallel with what you > wrote and what some of us must be wondering often. > > Cancelling debts would not solve the problems in > poor country. In fact by cancelling debts, that > means IMF and World Bank would no longer receive the > 'interests' they once would. Therefore IMF and World > Bank would need more contributions from the > wealthier nations. And as the circle would complete > -- since more money would have to reserve fir IMF > and World Bank, wealthier nations would have less to > spare for their own 'development funds'. So, what > would that mean to other 'poor and developing' > countries that do not fall in the same catagories as > the poorest countries? They would receive less aids > and perhaps eventually would join the 'poorest > countriest'. > > Another question that was raised is, for the past 20 > or 30 years, millions and millions of dollars have > been allocated to support developing works in the > continent of Africa. Where have they GONE? In fact I > was just thinking about S. Africa, or Rhodesia. One > point in time they were not really that poor. They > might have racial problems, but compared with what > we see these days, were their lives better then or > now? Is the size of their poor reduced? Have their > social services improved? Have their discriminations > under control OR perhaps now they find a different > breed of people to discrimate of? > > Look at Zimbabwe. What are we seeing? Why there were > hardly any actions from the US or UK governments 2 > or 3 years ago when white farmers were beaten up, > killed, and their farms were taken and given to the > croonies of Mogabe? Why was it so easy for US and UK > to come up with reasons to invade Iraq and Saddam > was toppled, BUT Mogabe is left to run amok? The > farms that were taken from the white farmers what > have become to them? What happened to those workers > who once had jobs with the white farmers? Have an > income or a place to stay in the farms? Look at what > happened to the shanty towns that are being torn and > burn the past 3 weeks in Zimbabwe? Is the US doing > anything? Is UK government doing anything? > > So, right now Blair and Bush are talking about > writing off 40 billions debts. What is the us of > giving money when the fundamental problems are not > taken care of? What is the use of giving money to > the like of Mogabe when he is respondible for > destroying the country? > > The problem with politicians is, they go for BIG > name tag that makes them look good. It is PR that is > important to them. Right now Blair and Bush are > working on reparing the damages of their own > reputations. So are we going to sit and watch and > let them mess this up further? Or can DDN do > something more constructive? > > Cindy > > _______________________________________________ > DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list > [email protected] > http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide > To unsubscribe, send a message to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word > UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. > ____________________________________________________ Yahoo! Sports Rekindle the Rivalries. Sign up for Fantasy Football http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
