African Baby Begins Life Caught Up In A Huge Debt 
 All Africa News Agency
February 11, 2000 
By Frederick Nzwili in Nairobi 

Nairobi - As interest groups lobby for the cancellation of the US $350 billion African debt, its effects on the African child continues to be felt widely. The burden according to UNICEF's Progress of Nations 1999 report, falls heavily on the minds and bodies of children, killing some and stunting others. 

Most countries in Sub Saharan Africa spend more paying the debt than in the health and education of their 306 million children. A baby in Mauritania begins life caught up in a debt of US $997. 

In the Democratic Republic of Congo that debt is estimated at US $1,872. The average burden for children in Sub-Saharan countries is US $ 417, which increases each day. 

At last year's meeting here of some African heads of states, Finance experts and Ministers from 17 countries, Botswana's head of state, Festus Mogae, said that African governments were recipients of debts that failed to address the economic problems because they were too little and came too late. 

African now needs a new lease of life, free from debt, if the economy has to grow to eradicate poverty. The continent's economy has grounded to halt as it struggles to pay the debt using the only available resources, says Christian Partners Development Agency. 

A recent study by UNICEF and UNDP indicates that out of the 27 countries surveyed, only 9 manage to spend more on social services than debt servicing. In countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia, the debt drains 40 percent or more of the budget. 

In comparison, the social services only receive, on average some 13 percent of the national budgets. The IMF director for African Department, Dr G.E Gondwe, said forgiveness of the debt, even though was good for Africa, would leave African governments with money "to steal and waste on the military". 

In 1990, attending a World Summit for Children, 71 heads of state committed themselves to measure debt relief as part of global fight against poverty. The world leaders endorsed the convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989. 

The child mortality rates are one third higher and their maternal mortality rates are nearly three times greater. More than a third of the children have not been immunized... 

They also committed themselves to a series of goals by the end of this year. These included halving malnutrition among under five and cutting their death rates by a third, halving maternal mortality rates, enabling every child to attend primary school and immunizing 90 percent of the worlds infants. 

But the debt has impaired these goals. In an attempt help the 41 poorest countries in the developing world (33 out of them in Africa), Heavily Indebted Poor Countries HIPC initiative was designed. 

The child mortality rates are one third higher and their maternal mortality rates are nearly three times greater in these countries than the average for developing countries. More than a third of the children have not been immunized and about half of them are illiterate. 

The highly indebted poor countries HIPC was launched in 1996 under the leadership of the World Bank and IMF, with a goal of returning to solvency the severely poor countries with unsustainable debt burdens. 

However, the progress recorded has been poor with only Uganda and Bolivia receiving relief. Commitments for HIPC have been made for only additional five countries. 


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