On a visit to Haiti I met a young man who saw no hope for the future. He put a face and a story for me on a desperately impoverished and violence-wracked country.
I thought about him again this week when I heard that the last of Haiti's external debt was finally erased. A billion dollar debt was removed this past September.
It had been a tough few years. In 2008, a series of hurricanes struck the island. But it was the huge debt that blocked future progress. The necessary policy changes were made as required by the World Bank and the United sates forgave the huge debt. Haiti joins over 20 heavily indebted poor countries who have finally dumped these terrible debt burdens.
Now people fighting to stay above water can hope that life can improve. Many voices joined together to insist that debt relief for poor countries was necessary. Those voices had an impact.
Peter
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