Southern Voices Grow Ever Stronger

"I have attended many summit meetings, but never have I seen such a coincidence of opinion among third world leaders...every single speaker alluded to the debt tragedy that limits our resources for economic and social development in a thousand different ways," said President Fidel Castro at the April G77 Summit in Havana.

Despite the oppressive burden of debt, countries in the South have been reluctant to speak out for debt cancellation, fearing that such calls will scare off investors and damage relations with the IMF.

More recently, the South has been increasingly vocal on the issue of debt. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Group of 77 (G77) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have all begun to advocate deeper - and in the case of Africa total - debt cancellation. Leaders such as President Obasanjo of Nigeria and President Chissano of Mozambique have been prepared to forgo diplomatic niceties to stress the urgent need for action. President Chissano said: "creditors must be made to accept cancellation immediately and as matter of urgency."

This new assertiveness on debt has been matched by greater collective confidence in international meetings. At the Seattle WTO meetings in November 1999, talks broke down because Southern leaders refused to kowtow to the North on trade agreements. This year, the G77 and OAU set out to challenge the most exclusive Northern club by demanding to meet with the G7. Although they would not invite the southern leaders onto their island retreat, the G7 were forced to agree to a special meeting in Tokyo, where southern leaders were unambiguous in their demands for debt cancellation. As Obasanjo has made clear, collective action by southern countries can work: "We must realise that we are not as weak or as powerless as we think. Individually we are, collectively we are not."

There are many factors behind this shift. Not least among them is the difference made by the international Jubilee 2000 movement. Strong and popular Jubilee 2000 campaigns in countries like Uganda, Peru, Haiti and Bangladesh have become significant political forces, prompting national debate. Southern leaders have felt legitimised to speak out for debt cancellation – and have been challenged to show how the money released would be spent.

Jubilee 2000 has transformed the debate on debt, building consensus that debt cancellation is vital for poverty reduction. Southern leaders can now be more strident about the levels and process of debt cancellation needed for their countries. They are also increasingly angry at the failure of creditors to deliver their promises on debt cancellation, poverty reduction and building sustainable development.

While the G7 nations continue to prevaricate and delay, the anger from southern leaders will only grow. It will be bolstered by an international movement dismayed by the G7's inaction at the Okinawa Summit. Archbishop Ndungane of South Africa has already called on African nations to stop paying their debts, saying: "If the wealthy G8 countries lack the will to cross the Rubicon, we must take the initiative".

The creditors are increasingly isolated on all sides. They must realise that holding out against the momentum for real debt cancellation will not be possible for much longer.

• Click here for Southern Voices, a collection of quotations on debt, HIPC, structural adjustment programmes and civil society