The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) wishes to commend the Group of Industrialized Nations (G8) on their decision to have multilateral debts for 18 underdeveloped countries cancelled. It is most gratifying to note that Zambia is one of the first countries to benefit from this landmark decision.

CSPR recognizes that debt cancellation campaigns have been at the centre of progressive civil society groups’ work such as the Jubilee movement. We therefore wish to express our strong appreciation for their good works and encourage them to continue until total debt cancellation is achieved.

CSPR would like to encourage the Zambian government to put the unlocked resources to growth stimulating and poverty eradication areas of the economy. We further call for the full disclosure of all resources that will be saved from this initiative as well as remnants of the debt burden by both the Zambian government and Cooperating Partners. CSPR calls on government to establish more transparent, broad based and credible mechanisms of monitoring the utilization of all resources to be saved from this relief.

These measures will enhance transparency and accountability and thereby contribute to the rapid lifting of the over 80 per cent citizens currently living in inhuman and unacceptable conditions.  

In addition, we call on government and the international community to go beyond debt relief and scale up the resources for poverty eradication to ensure that Zambia is enabled to attain all targets relating to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Helen Samatebele (Ms.), CSPR Network Steering Committee Chairperson