TransAfrica Forum
Media Advisory
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Contact: Joia Nuri
jnuri@transafricaforum.org
240-603-7905-cell

WASHINGTON – TransAfrica Forum commends the recent decision by the World Bank to grant US$1.2 billion of debt relief to Haiti under the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative approved by the Boards of the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The decision is a victory for the Jubilee Network, of which TransAfrica Forum is a member, and for the countless other U.S. Congressional Representatives, activists and organizations that have been working through the years in solidarity with Haiti to free the country from its crippling and odious debt, dating back to loans incurred by the Duvalier family dictatorship and the Independence Debt.

TransAfrica Forum has consistently advocated for unconditional debt cancellation for Haiti and drawn attention to the injustice of a country paying close to $1 million per week to the international community while approximately 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 USD per day.

“We applaud the decision of the World Bank to provide complete debt cancellation to Haiti and to make what we have believed all along is the right and moral decision. It is still critical, however, that all bilateral creditors proceed with debt relief to Haiti to eliminate its total foreign debt and enable it to free up all the resources necessary for domestic social spending at such a critical time.” Nicole Lee, Executive Director, TransAfrica Forum.

Haiti actually should have been able to join the HIPC program in 1996. A 2007 report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), revealed that Haiti was excluded based on a technicality that the IMF tacitly admitted was a mistake. Haiti was reinstated in 2006 but has faced repeated delays under the HIPC Initiative.

The World Bank decision is a positive development for Haiti and should not be understated. It is also a critical opportunity for United States and the international community to realize the importance of shifting its policies to support long-term, domestic solutions for development that do not entrench Haiti into future cycles of debt.

TransAfrica Forum is the leading advocacy organization for Africa and the African Diaspora in U.S. foreign policy. In its 30 year history, TransAfrica Forum helped lead the world protest against apartheid in South Africa. The organization was a key player in the restoration of Democracy in Haiti and limiting US oil company power in Nigeria.  Today TransAfrica Forum continues to work for human and economic justice for African people on the continent of Africa, in Latin America and in the Caribbean. Our website is www.transafricaforum.org