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UPDATE - 8 February 2010Thanks to the more than 200,000 ONE members who signed the petition worldwide, the cancellation of Haiti’s debt may be all but a formality at this point.
Over the weekend 4 ONE members delivered the petition signatures at the G7 finance ministers summit in the small Arctic Canadian town of Iqaluit.
Just before the scheduled handover, Canadian Finance Minister James Flaherty, speaking on behalf of all the G7 countries (the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Japan), issued the following statement:
"The earthquake caused unprecedented damage that requires exceptional measures. We agreed that the debt should not be a burden that will weigh on the recovery of the country. We are committed in the G7 to the forgiveness of debt. In fact all bilateral debt has been forgiven by G7 countries vis-à-vis Haiti.
The debt to multilateral institutions should be forgiven and we’ll work with these institutions and other partners to make this happen as soon as possible. We discussed the long term reconstruction assistance that Haiti will need as it emerges from the current urgent situation as a result of the earthquake."
Though the $1 billion in debt is still not yet technically cancelled, the G7 countries hold considerable influence over the international lending institutions that must ultimately and officially cancel Haiti’s debt. We at ONE now feel confident that the full cancellation of Haiti’s debt is closer to being a done deal than ever before — and we hope the details will be hammered out quickly.
And it’s all thanks to the hundreds of thousands around the globe who stood up for the people of Haiti to make this happen. Thank you!
Find out more on the ONE blog