(June 27, 2005) Debt relief campaigners call on the government of Kenya to make public the steps it has taken to lobby for debt cancellation and to justify the burden it continues to put on its citizenry by servicing these debts.
African debt relief package not good enough
(June 27, 2005) Twenty years from now, there will be a whole new generation of debt if the root causes aren’t somehow fixed. Applying the Doctrine of Odious Debts will ensure that Third World citizens don’t pay for debts that weren’t incurred for their benefit.
The false promise of debt relief
(June 27, 2005) "Unfortunately, most of the public, egged on by well-meaning rock stars, religious leaders, and other popular figures, seem brainwashed into believing that debt relief is a giant step on the road to ending world poverty."
Two decades on, people power haunts Philippines
(June 27, 2005) For all its street protests, colourful elections and raucous debate, the Philippines still does not have enough real democracy, analysts say.
Iraq reports corruption epidemic
(June 27, 2005) There is massive corruption in most Iraqi government ministries as a legacy of Saddam Hussein’s era, the Iraqi anti-corruption commission has said.
Nigeria comes clean and shows the way for Africa
(June 25, 2005) It would be helpful if Nigeria’s current efforts to stamp out corruption were rewarded with limited debt cancellation and increased aid by creditor nations, to demonstrate to Africa south of the Sahara that good governance pays.
A nation’s anger at the politicians who bled Nigeria dry
(June 25, 2005) New statistics reveal Nigeria’s past leaders bled the country of more than £220 billion during the first four decades of independence; the current administration is taking action but has a long way to go before citizens can start to prosper.
£220bn stolen by Nigeria’s corrupt rulers
(June 25, 2005) Nigeria’s past rulers stole or misused £220 billion new figures reveal – tallying almost exactly the total of western aid given to Africa in almost four decades; an amount six times the American help given to post-war Europe under the Marshall Plan.
Raising the flag on Iraq reparations
(June 23, 2005) The United Nations is being urged to stop paying billions of dollars in reparations from Iraq – one of the world’s most indebted countries – to claimants, many of them from Kuwait, one of the world’s richest nations.
Despite regime change, Iraq debts keep mounting
(June 22, 2005) International social justice groups are calling on the United Nations to stop paying out millions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenues in war reparations, claiming Iraqi citizens should not be held responsible for Saddam Hussein’s actions.
Debt relief’s bet is not on violent revolutions
(June 21, 2005) Debt relief doesn’t address Africa’s long-term fundamental needs and how to put Africa on the right track to development: What Africa needs to do is to grow out of debt. What [debt relief] does is simply stabilize the situation.
Africa: debt, aid and race
(June 20, 2005) "Much of Africa’s debt burden was not really aid in the first place, but money that the West (and the old Soviet Union) handed over to keep their African clients loyal during the Cold War, knowing full well that it would be stolen."
S.Africa ex-deputy president to face graft charges
(June 20, 2005) South Africa’s popular former Deputy President Jacob Zuma will be charged with corruption in a case which has already seen his aide sentenced to 15 years in prison, the prosecution authority announced.
West should act against bribery in Africa-Wolfowitz
(June 19, 2005) World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said developed countries have an obligation to prevent bribery in Africa by Western firms.
Conference to review debt management by developing countries, debate issues of debt, development
(June 18, 2005) Two weeks before the Group of Eight (G-8) summit in Scotland this July, a conference focusing on the management of debt burdens, the long-term sustainability of external debt and the extent to which debt relief does or does not address development prospects in African countries will be held in Geneva from June 20 to June 24.
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