San Remo Festival forces Italian Government to respond to appeal for debt cancellation

Prime Minister D'Alema of Italy promised today (22^nd February) to review his government's approach to the debts of the poorest countries, agreeing to consider doubling the number of countries eligible for cancellation of all their debts to Italy.

His announcement followed a meeting in Rome with Jubilee 2000 Coalition director, Ann Pettifor, and rock stars Lorenzo Jovanotti and Bono in which they called on D'Alema to take a lead on debt cancellation. They specifically called on Italy to immediately write off debts owed to it by cyclone-stricken Mozambique, to include more countries for 100% debt cancellation and to convene an extraordinary summit in Africa to deliver a comprehensive solution to the debt crisis.

The meeting with D'Alema has coincided with unprecedented publicity about the Jubilee 2000 campaign at Italy's biggest music festival in San Remo. Italian and international artists have used the platform of the renowned and highly popular festival to raise awareness of the debt crisis and call on political leaders to cancel the debts. Fabio Fazio, who hosts the San Remo show announced his support for the campaign on the 10^th January, saying that the campaign reflected the international aspect of the San Remo festival and "the commitment that the music world has shown for years towards important social issues, from Live Aid on"

Italian pop star Jovanotti was one of the first musicians to seize the microphone at the country's biggest music festival and deliver an impassioned plea to a television audience of 17 million people:

"I would like to use the microphone and the television, to ask you from here to make a huge sign...Cancel the debt! One billion people on the planet live on less than a dollar a day...Their poverty is not a choice but their only reality," he said on the opening night of the annual six-day festival that has Italians glued to their television screens.

Opera star Luciano Pavarotti, a co-host of the entertainment extravaganza, added his voice to the calls for debt relief. "I am very honoured to be involved in this initiative as a UN peace ambassador," Pavarotti said.

Other artists, including Bono who will play at the festival's finale on Saturday, will use their appearances to press for debt cancellation.

The Italian Government prior to D'Alema's announcement had only agreed to cancel $1.5 billion out of a total $4.3 billion owed by the 41 HIPC countries. Their 100% pledge only applied to 18 countries. Jubilee 2000 insists that at least 52 countries need to be considered for urgent debt cancellation. D'Alema's announcement is a step in the right direction.

Ann Pettifor, Director of Jubilee 2000 Coalition said: "Mr D'Alema is listening to Jubilee 2000, to the Pope, to the Italian people, and to the millions of supporters around the world that have called for urgent action to be taken on debt cancellation in this Jubilee year, the start of a new millennium. If Italy were to carry through these promises this year, Mr D'Alema and the Italian Parliament would be giving a wonderful gift to the Pope - and to the millions of suffering people in the poorest countries that would benefit."

• To read the lyrics and watch a live video replay of Jovanotti's Drop the Debt Song that has dominated the Italian press, click here.