A debt-free start for a billion people

JUBILEE 2000 PRESS CONFERENCE ON DEBT AND PRAGUE PROTESTS

Ann Pettifor, Director and Co-founder of Jubilee 2000 UK

Tomáš Tožička, Coordinator of Jubilee 2000 Czech Republic

Friday 22 September, 1pm

Green Circle NGO Press Centre (Zeleny Kruh - 15 minutes walk from Congress Centre)

Lublaňská 18, Prague 2. (nearest Metro: I.P. Pavlova)

Ann Pettifor: "Jubilee 2000 supporters will be demonstrating peacefully on the streets of Prague this Sunday because the IMF, World Bank and their shareholders are refusing to lift the debt burdens of the poorest countries. Where debt is paid at the cost of human lives, these debts should be wiped out.

"The World Bank and IMF offer their work on debt relief as evidence that they are listening to both civil society and southern governments. But HIPC debt plans are woefully inadequate and will still leave the poorest countries spending more on debt than on health or education.

"When the IMF and World Bank speak of reducing poverty on the one hand, while taking millions of dollars in debt repayments with the other, their current poor-friendly rhetoric rings hollow. In Zambia, doctors and hospital staff have not been paid for 3 months, yet creditors ask for, and receive, a million dollars a week.

"In Prague, the IMF and the World Bank, and their shareholders can show they are responding to the needs of the poorest people by real action on debt cancellation. This means cancelling 100% of the debts owed so that these resources can be used to fund clean water and primary healthcare. "

For more information and to arrange interviews, contact Lucy Matthew on 0605 858 024 or Tomáš Tožička 0603 866 054.

Jubilee 2000 weekend events in Prague