standup.comboniyouth.org.uk

London Consensus on multilateral Debt Cancellation

As representatives of civil society organizations, we call for:

1. The immediate cancellation in full of all unpayable and odious debts of the
world's poorest countries, by fair and transparent means
2. A review, according to the human development approach to debt sustainability, of
the debts of other countries whose debt burden has been deemed unsustainable.
This will imply full debt cancellation for a wider group of countries
3. This cancellation should be delivered without harmful conditions imposed by
creditors, such as privatisation and liberalisation
4. The cancellation of unpayable debts is urgently needed to release the resources
required to meet the essential human and development needs of the world's most
impoverished nations. It must therefore result in additional, positive and sustained
net financial flows to these countries. Resources to achieve this cancellation
should not be drawn from the funds required to meet existing targets for overseas
aid.
5. Governments should support the creation of a fair and transparent arbitration
process (FTAP) framework. This will allow both creditor and debtor countries to
resolve debt crises without compromising the ability of poor countries to meet the
basic human needs of their peoples, and will determine which debts are odious
and should not be repaid. Iraq's debts and those of other countries should be dealt
with within this framework.