Madam, - No one can dispute the relentless determination of Bono and Bob Geldof to ensure that the developed world keeps its aid promises to the developing world. However, aid is just one wheel of the development bike; the other is the need for the leaders of developing countries to provide good governance and the rule of law in the interests of their people.
So a key question is: what is happening in relation to governance issues? Some recent developments are not encouraging. Zimbabwe has been elected to chair the UN Commission for Sustainable Development, thanks to the backing of African leaders. Yet Zimbabwe is in the grip of hyperinflation and economic collapse and is an exemplar of development implosion, which is the very opposite of sustainable development. Among other sources of discouragement are Nigeria's recent elections, which international observers judged to be deeply flawed.
A positive development is the commencement of the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. This UN-backed war crimes court has been set up to try those accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the brutalities perpetrated during the Sierra Leone civil war. Hopefully, this trial will send a strong signal to those who consider themselves above the law and to the victims of human rights abuses that there is now the means through the UN for obtaining justice.
To make poverty history, aid and fair trade have roles to play; but we should not forget that the despots and kleptocrats are major obstacles to achieving this humanitarian goal. They too must be made history. - Yours, etc,
Dr LF LACEY, Skerries, Co Dublin.
Madam, - In 2005 the G8 countries made a commitment to cancel the debts that some poor countries owed to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank. That agreement, while benefiting some countries, does not solve the debt crisis that continues to burden the economies of impoverished countries.
The 2005 deal excludes many poor countries and covers a limited number of loans and creditors. And fundamentally, it ignores the urgent need for creditors to be held accountable for giving irresponsible loans.
We believe that if a lender should not have given a loan they have no right to collect repayments. Vast amounts of debt remaining on the books of impoverished countries were provided by rich lenders in the knowledge that the money would have a highly damaging effect. These include loans given for projects that would remain unfinished, loans spent on socially and environmentally destructive projects, and on military equipment that has resulted in the oppression of vulnerable people. Many loans were, and continue to be, provided to impoverished governments on unfair terms or with very damaging conditions attached to them.
If the members of the undemocratic G8 club are to prove that there is a value in holding their expensive summits, they must demonstrate a commitment to redistributing their wealth and power.
A small step in this direction would be to admit their responsibility in the creation of illegitimate debts and cancel them immediately. - Yours, etc,
NESSA NÍ CHASAIDE, Co-ordinator, Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, All Hallows, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.