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Debt and Famine in Ethiopia The international public seems to be hardly aware of the current crisis in Ethiopia, which could have dimensions even surpassing the imminent food shortages in Southern Africa. Ethiopia is facing a famine of such catastrophic proportions that it could be even worse than the crisis of 1984 which led to Bob Geldof's Band Aid appeal. According to the Ethiopian Government, up to 15 million Ethiopians could soon die of hunger if no action is taken. This means that the number of people involved in this disaster is up to three times higher than in 1984. The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the United Nations' World Food Programme have called for a massive international relief operation that could be the largest ever mounted. As much as 200 million tons of food aid may be needed. According to Mr. Zenawi the Ethiopian government could have done more to avert such a crisis. However, he claims that the government simply lacked the money to improve the country's water storage and irrigation system. If these suggestions are correct, they give the strongest support to the call for full and immediate debt relief for poor countries and show the shortcomings of the HIPC initiative.[1] From 1998 to 2001, Ethiopia paid a total of 536 million US dollars to her international creditors. If she had been able to use this money for improving the country's agricultural sector and for introducing safeguards against droughts, the current crisis might have been avoidable. Considering this, the fact that Ethiopia and other poor countries still have to spend a large amount of their revenues to service their external debt, becomes even more unbearable. For how much longer will the international community bear witness to this insupportable situation? It is time to act now. First of all, the HIPC process has to be sped up, as those who are starving or have to live in inhuman conditions cannot wait until the international community thinks that their governments are worthy to receive debt relief. The ultimate goal, however, must be that countries around the world are given the right to declare themselves bankrupt under an internationally agreed insolvency process, which respects basic human rights more than monetary obligations.[2] Klaus Teufel Jubilee Research Sources: Radio 4 morning show from November 11 World Bank News release 2002/124/S "HIPC Initiative: Status of Implementation", August 2002
[1] For further information on the HIPC initiative, go to: http://www.jubileeplus.org/hipc/what_is_hipc.htm [2] For further information on Jubilee Research’s proposal for such a process go to: http://www.jubileeplus.org/analysis/reports/jubilee_framework.pdf
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