British Public And The World's Poor Short-Changed On Debt Relief

A major new poll on public attitudes to debt relief highlights serious confusion over how far world leaders have actually moved to cancel debts.(1)

A MORI poll commissioned by CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency, shows that repeated announcements by G7 leaders of 100% debt cancellation for indebted poor countries have left many people convinced that the Jubilee 2000 campaign has already achieved its goals.

The poll reveals that more than half of those with a view wrongly believe that all the debts have already been cancelled or will be by the end of this year. But CAFOD says the fine print behind the bold announcements of 100% cancellation means that many poor countries will still enter the new millennium with less than half of their debts cancelled.

CAFOD's poll indicates that a major statement on debt cancellation from the finance ministers' meeting tomorrow would be extremely popular, with more than two out of three of those with an opinion expressing support for the campaign. Only one in ten people actually oppose the Jubilee 2000 campaign indicating that concern about corruption in the Third World has not put people off supporting debt cancellation.

Henry Northover, CAFOD's policy advisor, said:

"World leaders have betrayed the hopes of the poor and of the millions of debt-relief campaigners who wanted to mark the millennium by wiping out Third World debt. CAFOD's poll confirms our worst fears - that many people think that the battle for debt relief has been won. Sadly, this is far from true. The 100% cancellation announcements made by G7 leaders last year with great fanfare disguise the fact that most of the poorest indebted countries will be left paying back more than 50% of their debts to rich creditors."

"The tens of thousands of ordinary people praised by Clare Short for taking to the streets in support of debt relief were not looking for half-hearted measures. Along with CAFOD partners in the poorest countries on earth, they were looking for an historic breakthrough which would offer a debt-free start to the new Millennium."

Many of the governments that announced 100% debt cancellation, including Bill Clinton, have failed to deliver the funds to make real their promises. Even if all the G7 countries lived up to their promises of 100% debt cancellation, some creditors including Japan, Germany and France will only be cancelling debts built up before specific dates - mostly in the early to mid 1980s. Many countries owe the bulk of their debts to the World Bank and IMF, which have steadfastly refused to cancel 100% of the debts.

Julian Filochowski, CAFOD's director, said:

"Three years ago CAFOD launched its campaign on debt with an opinion poll showing that the government was out of step with a public who opted to celebrate the millennium by cancelling debts rather than building the Dome (2). By taking the initiative once more at the G7 summit by locking in place the necessary debt write-offs, the government can still be remembered for marking the millennium with an historic gesture that will change the world, rather than a monument to conspicuous consumption that is a parody of Jubilee."

"The British government has successfully pushed the world's leaders to go much further on debt. Now CAFOD is calling on the government to use tomorrow's meeting and the heads of government meeting in Okinawa next week to go still further to ensure that all the G7 announcements of 100% cancellation actually mean 100% to those bearing the burden of crushing debts."

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,998 adults aged 15+ in Great Britain. All interviews were face-to-face and in-home and were conducted across 155 sampling points between 8-13 June 2000. All dates have been weighted to the known population of Great Britain.A MORI poll commissioned by CAFOD in 1998 revealed that 69% of the public would like to see the government celebrate the Millennium by cancelling Third World debts as compared to 17% who opted for building the Dome.