MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What will it cost to cancel the debt?

Jubilee 2000 in the UK have identified 52 poor countries in urgent need of debt cancellation. They have calculated that it would cost each of us in the wealthy nations, less than $4 per year over 20 years to cancel all of the debts owed by these 52 countries.

Jubilee 2000 also calculated what debt cancellation would cost an individual creditor, like Britain. Britain receives £75 million each year in debt repayments from the poorest countries. So, cancellation of those debts would cost no more than £75 million each year. This works out at £2 per year per taxpayer.

What is Ireland's involvement in all of this?

Ireland is not a creditor to low-income countries. Aid has always been given as grants.

In 1998 the Irish government announced a package of £31.5 million to assist the most heavily indebt poor countries in the world. £22 million of this package was allocated to the IMF and the World Bank. The remaining £9.5 million was used to pay part of the debt owed by Mozambique and Tanzania to the IMF and the World Bank.

If so much of the debt was caused by corrupt leaders, how can we be sure that this will not happen again?

Corruption is a threat in every country, both North and South. But it is simply not correct to assume that all Southern governments have no concern for their people's welfare. Before the debt crisis, countries like Nicaragua, Zambia and Tanzania spent considerable resources on health and education.

In any country perhaps the best defense against corruption is openness and accountability in public spending. The Jubilee campaign has always called for a fair and transparent process for debt cancellation. The full and meaningful participation of civil society groups in the process of debt cancellation is essential in determining and monitoring the redirection of funds from debt servicing to the alleviation of poverty.

In Uganda for example, the government have recently established a Poverty Action Fund into which money from debt relief is allocated in order to alleviate poverty. The government calls public meetings every three months to give an account of how this money is spent.

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