Yesterday, the Paris Club pardoned 1.2 billion dollars of debt owned by Liberia. The Paris Club praised Liberia's determination to continue to implement comprehensive poverty reduction and economic restructuring to bolster sustainable economic growth. As of June 2007, Liberia's external debt was 4.4 billion dollars. The Paris Club, an informal group of the world's largest economies, has focused on providing financial services to the world's Heavily-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) since inception in the 1970s.
The 8th MDG focuses on forging a global partnership for development, the cornerstone for the implementation of the 7 other MDGs. Debt forgiveness/relief and fairer trade rules establish a partnership for development where the richest countries enable HIPCs to grow firm economies and become self sustaining.
Goal 8 targets both rich countries and poor countries in their committments of eliminating global poverty.
Rich countries are being held responsible for increasing debt relief and making fairer trade rules - especially in agriculture, giving poor farmers a chance to earn a decent living.
In contrast, poor countries need to have greater accountability to their citizens and better utilization of their resources.
"Just a small shift in the balance of trade could make a huge difference....if poor countries exports went up by just 1% then 128 million would escapte the poverty trap."
It is precisely this that world leaders from around the globe are seeking to accomplish with goal #8 of the Millennium Development Campaign.
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