Hope in Haiti's rubble

There is a silver lining on the dark clouds of Haiti's recent destruction.  Not only have the people of Haiti had limited debts cancelled in recent weeks, but this weekend the G7 made a momentous decision to cancel all their bilateral debts... And the good news is that the G7 will now exert pressure on multi-lateral debts to be called off.  There is also hope that other institutions such as IMF will be encouraged to review Haiti's indebtedness. Those of us who have been working and agitating for debt relief over many years (www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk) will rejoice with the people of Haiti - to the extent that they have the energy to rejoice.  Of course it is right that our institutions should respond in this way.  The earthquake was a tragic way of underscoring the fact that Haiti - one of the poorest countries in the world - would never be able to relinquish its indebtedness in our lifetime.  This seismic disaster jolted the conscience and political will of rich nations to do the right thing.  Let's all work and pray that this response will have prised open the political will for many other poor countries who are experiencing the tremors of environmental degradation, natural disasters and warfare.

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