Efforts to alleviate poverty in developing countries continue to be hampered by the burden of debts owed to rich nations, Kenyan Nobel laureate, Wangari Maathai, said on Monday, adding that most of the loans had been incurred illegitimately by irresponsible governments.
"The debt burden continues to make it impossible for many governments to give services to the people," Maathai said at a seminar organised by churches in Africa to campaign for debt relief at the World Social Forum, under way in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
She described the debts as having been "poorly transacted and illegitimate.
"In many African countries we were being governed by dictatorial, unaccountable governments," Maathai said, urging the churches to continue spearheading the debt relief movement.
"Indeed, the loans were used to oppress the people, strengthen the ruling and co-operating elites, and exploit resources at the expense of the health of the environment and the welfare of the people," she said.
Maathai said people in developing countries continue to die because of the dearth of social services, noting that an estimated eight million people in Africa died every year because they could not access medicine for treatable diseases, yet their governments continued to service debt.
She challenged the poor and civil society in Africa, Asia and Latin America to raise their voice against the debt burden and not wait for their governments to champion their cause because governments were often made up of rich politicians who did not feel burdened by the loans.
Speakers at the seminar called for increased pressure on leaders in both industrialised and developing countries for debt cancellation.
They acknowledged the government of Norway's decision in October 2006 to unilaterally and unconditionally cancel debts owed by Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru, Egypt and Sierra Leone. Norway's rationale was that the debts were the result of failed development policy.
"There is a need to get rich countries to realise that debt cancellation is not an act of charity but a matter of justice," said Anna Thomas of Christian Aid.
Joel Vilando, a member of parliament from the Philippines, said the country's foreign debt was estimated at US$16 billion and represented 46.6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
"Debt payment gets priority over the provision of social services," said Vilando.
Noel Watkins, a debt relief campaigner from the United States, said the Millennium Development Goals could not be achieved without first dealing with the indebtedness of poor countries.
Liberia, a poverty-stricken country emerging from decades of civil war, owes its creditors about $3.7 billion yet 85 percent of the population is unemployed, according to Watkins.
"There is no legitimate debt in Africa at the moment," said Vitalis Meja of the African Network on Debt and Development. Post-conflict countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone could not succeed in their reconstruction efforts unless the debts they owed to foreign governments and multilateral lending institutions were cancelled, Meja said.
"Why I attended the World Social Forum" - slum resident
Duncan Otieno, 22, lives in Huruma, one of four main slums in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Otieno has lived there since coming to the city in 2003 after finishing school in Kisumu, in the west of the country.
Four years on, he remains unemployed except for the odd construction job, which helps him pay the rent of his one-roomed house and support his younger brother.
Otieno attended the last day of the World Social Forum, a platform for activists, social movements, networks and coalitions from Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, North America, Europe and Africa to discuss issues affecting poor countries, such as the debt burden, poverty, human rights and access to basic needs.
This year's forum, the seventh, was held in Nairobi from 20-25 January.
For Otieno, attending the forum even for just a day was important because the issues under debate affected him and majority of the people he knows:
"I attended the World Social Forum because they [the participants] were focusing on issues affecting the youth, especially in the slums, such as unemployment, rampant poverty and frustration with the government.
"They were also talking about water which is very expensive in the slums. I pay at least five shillings [USD0.01] for 10 litres of water yet sometimes I do not even have the odd job. The few people in the slums that have running water, those with permanent houses, sell the water to us. We should not be charged for water, it is our right.
"The rent in the slums is also high yet we are poor. I pay 2,000 shillings each month (about USD 30) yet the house is made of rusted iron sheets. There is no garbage disposal and sewage floats freely across the paths.
"The houses are crammed close together such that we suffer a lot of losses when there are fires in the slums. The government has forgotten us as we have no access roads. Developed countries should not look down on Africa; instead they should assist us by cancelling our debts as called for by the forum to enable us to develop. Then we will not depend on donors but rely on our resources.
"The government can then help people start small businesses. For as little as 500 shillings (USD 7.50) one can be a hawker instead of sitting at home.
"If I had the opportunity, I would have attended the World Social Forum for the full five days. But I had other priorities. How can I just sit at Kasarani or Uhuru Park [the venues of the forum] the whole day when I do not have food? Today I am free, that is why I am here.
"I am glad people were sharing ideas at the forum to help uplift each other not to lose hope but to stay determined.
"However, if the forum is just a matter of people talking, just for the sake of gathering, then it will be of no use.
"What has been discussed should be formulated into policies that have tangible results that an ordinary mwananchi [citizen] can appreciate."