The moral argument for debt cancellation has become irrefutable in the face of the devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS in Africa, writes Tom Kitt.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg on September 2nd promises to be the largest global summit so far, with over 40,000 participants expected.
While some might question the scale and cost of the event, there is no doubt about the relevance of its agenda to our planet and to our individual futures.
There has been a sea-change in opinion in recent years, at home and elsewhere. We now understand that progress in improving conditions for the world's poor is closely related to dealing with the unsustainable consumption and production patterns in the developed world - and we are trying to do something about it.
The summit will review progress since the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and will try to agree a plan of action focused on poverty eradication through sustainable development.
Progress since the 1992 Rio meeting has been disappointing. The exhaustive UN documentation prepared for the summit charts the extent of our failures.
The statistics make depressing reading. In 2002 half the world's population live on less than $2 per day, and 800 million people suffer from hunger. More than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and two billion people have no access to safe sanitation.
An estimated 6,000 children a day die as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene. Some 28 million people have died since the AIDS epidemic began, and more than 40 million are now living with HIV/AIDS. .
The Government strongly supports the target for Johannesburg of an ambitious new agreement on the promotion of sustainable development. Ireland, along with our European partners and most developing countries, will support new sustainable development targets with fixed time frames on, for example, health, sanitation, access to freshwater and energy.
Ireland, with its historical development ties to Africa, will be pressing for specific recognition of Africa's acute and particular difficulties.
Environment and development issues will be entwined at Johannesburg. The Government's updated strategy on dealing with the debt burden on poor countries, which I launched in Dublin on July 19th, will form a major part of our contribution.
I must emphasise that the Government does not agree with the automatic write-off of all developing country debt. The new strategy supports debt cancellation, in principle, in heavily indebted poor countries committed to good governance, the protection of human rights, the fight against corruption and with sound economic management.
A note of caution here to those who have remarked, in this paper's letters page and elsewhere, that debt cancellation will encourage a "begging bowl" mentality in Africa.
We know that unless debt cancellation is accompanied by strict conditions it can do more harm than good. Our new debt strategy emphasises that debt cancellation should be accompanied by strong monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
The additional funds available to governments from debt cancellation should be channelled into increased social expenditure, particularly in combating the spread of HIV/AIDS, and not abused through corruption.
The second qualification of our support for debt cancellation is that total cancellation would have to be funded largely through additional donor contributions. It would not, in my view, be possible to fund cancellation from the existing resources of the World Bank and the IMF as this would ultimately result in increased borrowing costs for all poor countries.
In order to mobilise the necessary funds for total debt cancellation, more donors, particularly the larger economies, would have to take concrete steps to meeting the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP on ODA.
In my view, the moral argument for debt cancellation has become irrefutable in the face of the devastation wrought by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in much of sub-Saharan Africa where, in some countries, one in three adults are infected. Life expectancy has fallen to below 40 years in the most heavily infected countries.
At the Johannesburg summit, we will also launch Ireland Aid's regional programme for HIV/AIDS in east and southern Africa. This programme, designed to complement Ireland Aid-supported activities in the area of HIV/AIDS internationally and at country level, is possible because of the additional resources for HIV/AIDS announced by the Taoiseach at the UN special session on HIV/AIDS in June 2001. It commits €8 million of Ireland Aid funds for the period 2002-2004.
Southern Africa is also struggling to deal with a food security crisis which threatens the lives of up to 13 million people. So far this year, Ireland Aid has allocated emergency funding amounting to almost €8 million in response to the crisis.
Before the Johannesburg summit, I will visit Zambia and Malawi to assess the situation as these countries grapple with food shortages and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Despite these challenges, Zambia, for example, will be paying around 20-25 per cent of government revenue on debt service in coming years - even after the provision of debt relief under the existing international debt initiative.
In 2000, Ireland joined the front ranks of the international donor community when we committed to reach the UN target of 0.7 per cent of GNP by 2007. Yes, we are now dealing with a less benign economic situation. Despite the economic slowdown, the Government will still increase, and I stress increase, Ireland's Aid budget by €100 million this year. The Government remains committed to achieving the target of 0.7 per cent by 2007.
Ireland Aid's close co-operation and support for the activities of our NGOs will continue to strengthen in recognition of their invaluable contribution to helping the poorest people in the poorest countries.
The World Summit on Sustainable Development was scheduled for September 11th. However, after the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, UN member-states agreed to move the summit forward by a week so that it would not take away from remembrance of that terrible day.
This reminds us of how interdependent we all are, how important it is to ensure that Johannesburg is a success, and what is at risk if we do not include the world's poor and marginalised in the benefits of progress which have the potential to improve the lives of us all.
Mr Tom Kitt, Minister of State for development aid, will accompany the Taoiseach and the Minister for the Environment to the Johannesburg summit