[mgj-discuss] World Bank Critics comment on G8 Debt Deal; Wolfowitz's Africa Trip

[Hope Chu]

Media Advisory :: For Immediate Release :: 13 June 2005

Contacts: Emily Schwartz Greco, Foreign Policy In Focus 
emily at ips-dc.org (202) 297-5412; Sameer Dossani, 50 Years 
Is Enough Network sameer at 50years.org (202) 463-2265

World Bank Critics available to comment on G8 debt deal 
and Wolfowitz's Africa trip

World Bank critics Salih Booker (Africa Action), Emira 
Woods (Foreign Policy In Focus), Debayani Kar (Jubilee USA 
Network), and Sameer Dossani (50 Years Is Enough Network) 
are available to brief journalists on the recent G8 deal 
on debt cancellation and World Bank President Paul 
Wolfowitz?'s trip to Africa.

Advocates recognize the deal, brokered by the U.S. and the 
U.K., to be an important first step towards 100% 
multilateral debt cancellation. "This is long overdue," 
said Sameer Dossani of the 50 Years Is Enough Network. 
"Unfortunately, this deal is still dependent on countries 
following economic policies that have been disastrous for 
the developing world."

As World Bank president James Wolfowitz visits Africa, 
activists point out that World Bank and IMF conditions 
constrain what steps African governments can take to 
eliminate poverty. "Real development would be allowing the 
people of Africa to control their own destinies through a 
democratic process," said Salih Booker, Executive Director 
of Africa Action. "The World Bank forces African 
governments to be accountable to the G7 countries, not to 
their own people."

Wolfowitz himself was a strong advocate for the 
elimination of Iraq?s debt on the grounds that debt 
incurred by Saddam Hussein was illegitimate. "We demand 
that Wolfowitz apply the same logic to the Democratic 
Republic of Congo, South Africa, Lesotho, Nigeria and many 
other countries," said Debayani Kar, Communications and 
Advocacy Coordinator at Jubilee USA Network. When 
Wolfowitz assumed the post of World Bank president, groups 
said that his background as a senior Bush administration 
official made him unsuitable for the post. "In light of 
the role that Wolfowitz played in the planning for and 
implementation of the illegal US invasion and occupation 
of Iraq, it is difficult to believe that he visits Africa 
with an open mind and constructive intentions." said Bill 
Fletcher, President of TransAfrica Forum. Fletcher also 
noted that Wolfowitz?s visit to the oil-rich nation of 
Nigeria was of particular concern.

"Desperate to toss aside his role in the war, occupation, 
and destruction of Iraq, Mr. Wolfowitz goes to Africa 
donning the mask of concern for the continent," said Emira 
Woods, Co-Director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the 
Institute for Policy Studies. "I suspect that this trip 
will be little more than a photo-op."

For more information, see: www.fpif.org, www.50years.org, 
www.africaaction.org, www.transafricaforum.org , 
www.jubileeusa.org ###
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