Leaders of indebted nations compel G8 to meet for historic debt summit in Tokyo

Leaders of indebted nations will join together with leaders of the Group of Eight richest nations (G8) for an unprecedented meeting in Tokyo on July 20. The 'Debt Summit', which takes place the day before the officialannual G8 Summit in Okinawa, is the outcome of growing demands from Jubilee 2000 and other voices worldwide for the G8 to open up their doors and stop making decisions on world affairs in isolation from the people whose lives they affect.

The unprecedented meeting provides an opportunity for creditor and debtor nations to agree a new deal on debt. After a year of promises from the G8, not one country has had any debt cancelled, and only nine of 41 have had limited relief. The Debt Summit can establish anew commitment from both sides to deal with the crisis. The Southern leaders can show how the money freed by debt cancellation will be channelled into meeting the basic needs of the poorest people. The creditors can agree to stop taking money immediately from the poorest countries, and finally write off debts that are destroying the lives of millions of people, instead of allowing a piecemeal, bureaucratic debt relief process to spin out for another five years.

Jubilee 2000 has long called for the creditors to open up their discussions and stop making decisions in secret which affect the lives of millions of ordinary people. Earlier this year, Southern leaders called on the G8 to hear their voices andmade an official request to meet the G8 to discuss what more can be done to tackle the debt crisis. The Debt Summit in Tokyo provides that opportunity, just at the moment when pressure from Jubilee 2000 campaigners is at its strongest, as hundreds of Summit Watch events take place around the world.

Jubilee 2000's argues that the G8 are acting with an 'island mentality', hiding away from the real world for their cosy summit in Okinawa instead of facing up to the realities of the debt crisis and the need for an urgent solution. Having responded to the call for a meeting with Southern leaders, the G8 now have their chance to show that they can break free from their island mental
ity and reach a new deal on debt - not amongst themselves, but in agreement with the leaders who represent the people whose lives are affected daily by the continuing debt crisis.




The Debt Summit will take place in Tokyo at Geihinkan (The State Guest House) at 3pm on Thursday 20 July. The G8 Heads of State (Britain, US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada) will meet with South African President Mbeki (chair of the Conference of Non-Aligned Nations), Nigerian President Obasanjo (chair of the G77), Algerian President Bouteflika (chair of the Organization of African Unity), and Thai Prime Minister Leekpai (representing the UN Conference on Trade and Development and ASEAN).