COALITION RELEASES REPORT CARD
CRITICAL OF FOLLOW-UP ON G7 PROMISES
MEDIA RELEASE
GROUPS AROUND WORLD SAY "NO" TO DEBT
For immediate release - September 22, 1997
Montreal - Today the Halifax Initiative and thirty-three organizations in nine countries mark the second annual "Global Day for Freedom from Debt". The day recognizes that the crushing debt load of the poorer countries is the single greatest impediment to the improvement of quality of human life.
UNICEF has stated that "Countries of sub-Saharan Africa are now spending 50% more on the servicing of their debts than on the health and education of their children. Yet even this sacrifice is only enabling those countries to pay about one-third of the interest that falls due every year." Currently, infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa is one in one hundred.
In response to the question "Must we starve our children to pay our debts?", groups in developed and developing countries answer with a resounding "NO". Events scheduled to mark the day in Canada include a march and rally in Renforth, New Brunswick and a dinner hosted by the Social Justice Committee of Montreal. At the dinner, individuals will draw the names of rich and poor countries to see who eats and who does not. The day is being officially observed in Saint John, New Brunswick, through a mayoral proclamation.
The roots of the event are the 1992 Debt Treaty signed by non-governmental organizations at the Rio de Janeiro Global Forum and the Halifax Initiative People's Summit Workshops held at the Halifax G-7 Summit in 1995.
For more information on events contact: Derek MacCuish, Social Justice Committee of Montreal (514) 933-6797