Source:
Eurodad
Wed Jun 21 2006
Minister of International Development Erik Solheim
Utenriksdepartementet
Postboks 8114 Dep
0032 Oslo
Norway
E-mail: utviklingsminister@mfa.no
Phone: +47 22 24 36 00
Fax: + 47 24 95 80
Dear Minister Solheim,
The European Network on Debt and Development (EURODAD), a network of 49 NGOs across 15 European countries, is writing this letter in support of the positive position being taken by the Norwegian government on the issue of odious and illegitimate debt.
Civil society organisations in both the South and North have campaigned on this issue for several years arguing that it is both unfair and unjust that countries are obliged to repay debts that were of no benefit to their people or economic development whatsoever. In some cases, loans were in fact used to oppress the people. These debts have been serviced by some of the world’s poorest countries to the detriment of investments in basic human needs and development infrastructure. This is not acceptable and is in no one’s benefit.
We therefore very much welcome Norway’s effort to raise the issue within relevant international fora, such as the United Nations and the World Bank. NGOs have for some time called for a strong international focus on this critical issue. So far however governments have displayed a remarkable lack of political will to even talk about odious and illegitimate debt. EURODAD, in cooperation with its member organisations which in Norway include SLUG and Norwegian Church Aid, are therefore very supportive of Norway’s commitment to raise the issue at the international level and to push for studies of odious and illegitimate debt both within the UN and the Bank. EURODAD will push the World Bank and its major shareholders to ensure that this crucial work is indeed undertaken and to gain a clear time-schedule from them. We hope that the Norwegian government will also do the same. In relation to the terms of reference for this work, we hope that Norway will also push to ensure the full involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including civil society, academics and other experts in defining the parameters and scope of this work.
In addition, we also welcome Norway’s commitment to more closely examining illegitimate debts claimed by Norway, such as those incurred through the Shipping Export Credit Campaign of the 1970’s. We welcome the fact that you wish to draw a line across this mistaken and damaging low point in Norway’s development cooperation policy. We now look forward to the Norwegian government moving beyond rhetoric and going on to cancel these claims based on a clear and public acknowledgement of the injustice and illegitimacy of these debts. We feel this would send a very clear and positive message to other governments that this critical issue must be dealt with rather than swept under the carpet. The Norwegian government can be sure that civil society organisations in other countries will be undertaking action to pressure their governments to take similar unilateral action to cancel odious and illegitimate debts.
We hope that Norway will wish to remain at the forefront of this issue and that shortly other governments will also speak out. NGOs will continue to call for bold action on the part of their governments and the international financial institutions and will also monitor any actions undertaken in this area. We look forward to open dialogue with the Norwegian government throughout these processes.
Yours Sincerely,
Gail Hurley,
EURODAD (European Network on Debt and Development)
ghurley@eurodad.org
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