Wednesday, September 28, 2005

News Update: Debt cancellation that will make a difference!


This weekend, 184 world leaders stood up and signed on to the G8 plan for 100% debt cancellation for 38 of the world's poorest countries. At Washington meetings of the World Bank and IMF, top officials agreed to a plan for up to $55 billion in debt cancellation, funding that will get kids in school, build health clinics and put clean water into more communities. 18 countries will be the first to benefit, and others will also in the near future.

What is debt cancellation? It means releasing poor countries from crushing debts, left over in many cases from loans stolen by corrupt dictators and negligent donors. It means honest leaders in some of the world's poorest countries will no longer have to choose between taking care of their people or repaying impossible debts. It means giving people the fresh start they need to create real opportunity and change lives.

From meetings in church basements to the millions who took part in the Live 8 concerts, over 1.5 million of you joined people around the world to demand real action on debt cancellation. This weekend's historic agreement is what ONE is all about: you raised your voice as ONE, and decision makers answered your call and did more to save lives in the poorest countries.

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

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