Delivering for Haiti

Jan 27th, 2010 5:17 PM UTC
By Weldon Kennedy

Momentum continues to grow for cancelation of Haiti’s $1 billion in debts so that the country can have a clean slate upon which to rebuild.

Yesterday evening ONE’s Tom Hart delivered the signatures of more than 150,000 ONE members calling for debt relief to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Tom Hart hands IMF Spokeswoman Caroline Atkinson a CD with the petition’s signatures

Of Haiti’s $1 billion debt, the IMF holds a relatively small amount, $165 million, but swift action by the IMF would increase momentum and pressure on all creditors. The IMF intends to move quickly to provide immediate financial assistance on the most favourable terms that it has at its disposal, zero-interest loans.

This delivery is just the first of several that we’ll have to make and we’ll have to work to put pressure on some of the other large creditors.

The response to the action has been incredible, and since we presented the petition to the IMF, almost 10,000 more people have signed, making our calls even stronger.

But we still have much work to do, and need to show continued and growing interest in debt cancellation.

So once you’ve signed, or if you’ve already done so, please do take a moment to ask 2-3 of your friends to join you in taking action. The more of us do it, the greater impact we’ll have when we hand over to the next of Haiti’s creditors.

TAGS: Debt Cancellation, Haiti, Spotlight