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| Text only version Needless deaths are avoided and lives are improved beyond measure each time rich nations reduce debt repayments they take from impoverished states. This is the picture shown in three Channel 4 short films as the world prepares for the financial deal-making of the G8 summit in Genoa on 20 July . Despite the success of debt reduction, the wealthiest countries continue to reap huge profits from their loans. The films reveal the human effects of this policy on Uganda. 'The moment I heard about free education I went back to school,' says Kasalo. Primary school attendance rocketed from 2.5 million children to 7 million in just 4 years after debt repayments were first reduced in 1997. Stephen Opolot teaches at one of the schools to benefit. 'These children were hunters and now they can come to school,' he says. There are more than 200 children in a class, but fees must be paid for secondary education. Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to get substantial debt relief from the World Bank and IMF. Since 1997, the cost of servicing its debt has been reduced by a third. Rose Lukungu, a single mother and subsistence farmer, could barely feed her children until a farming adviser, paid from debt-relief money, taught her to transform her vegetable patch into a profit-making business. She now feeds her family and is able to pay for her daughter’s school thanks to a new cow financed by debt relief. 'I can stand by my family and provide everything they need,' Rose says. Many patients survive preventable diseases, thanks to debt relief. Bugono Health Centre has its first doctor. Dr Kashira Ziraba says: 'We can travel to communities to immunise people.' It’s huge progress, but parents must still carry their critically sick baby on a two-hour walk for specialist treatment. Much more needs to be done. Last year richer nations promised to end the Third World debt crisis; only 23 states have seen reductions in their payments and many more have received nothing. Uganda is still paying £50million each year for its debts. |
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