Debt killing kids in Africa

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

>From the BBC:
               Thursday, July 22, 1999 Published at 13:13 GMT 14:13 UK

               Debt 'killing children'

               Children's health is suffering as governments struggle to
pay debts

               Mortality rates among mothers and children are rising as a
result of the crippling
               cost of debt in the world's poorest countries, says a United
Nations report.

                              Unicef says women and children are bearing
the brunt
                              of the debt crisis, especially in Africa,
where many
                              governments are diverting resources away from
health
                              and education.

                              As a result, hundreds of millions of people
are suffering
                              from ill health, and children are being
condemned to a
                              life without schooling, says the annual
Progress of
                              Nations report.


                                     The report draws up a league table of
                                     countries where children are most at risk.
                                     Angola comes out as as the worst country
                                     for a child to live in.

                                     It also assesses the progress being made in
                                     the battle against polio, and the impact of
                                     Aids on children.

                                     Following Angola, the organisation ranks
                                     Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Somalia as
                                     the next most dangerous places to grow
                                     up.

                                     In Angola, the continuing civil war, the
                                     virtual collapse of the health system, a
                                     lack of basic education and nationwide
                                     food shortages combine to make it the
                                     worst place for children.

                                     See: Angola - no place for a child

                                     The quality of life indicators chosen by
                                     Unicef are

                                           Mortality rates for under-fives
                                           The percentage of underweight
                                           children
                                           Primary school attendance
                                           Risk from armed conflict
                                           The prevalence of Aids.

               Not surprisingly, advanced western countries do best.

               New call for debt relief

               The UN children's organisation calls for the outright
cancellation of all debt.


                                     It says the present scheme to offer debt
                                     relief to the world's 41 poorest and most
                                     heavily-indebted countries is too rigid and
                                     too slow.

                                     Countries have to wait six years before
                                     becoming eligible and so far only three -
                                     Uganda, Bolivia and Guyana - have
                                     benefited.

                                     Its executive director, Carole Bellamy,
                                     says sub-Saharan Africa is the worst
                                     affected.

                                     "Sub-Saharan Africa alone is caught in a
                                     debt trap. The governments spend more on
                                     servicing their more than $300bn debt
                                     than on the health and education of their
                                     children "

               Far from rewarding irresponsibility, Unicef believes debt
relief is an essential
               weapon in the fight against poverty.

               Without it, the agency says, the goal of cutting world
poverty by half by 2015 is
               unattainable.