United Nations

  NEW YORK, 24 July (UN Headquarters) -- The following statement was issued on Friday, 21 July, by the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:
 

 The Secretary-General expressed his disappointment today at the failure of the G-7 States to provide the promised debt relief to poor countries in a timely manner.

 “For four years, we have had too many promises and too little action”, he said.

 The Secretary-General noted that last year the G-7, which groups the world’s leading industrial nations, promised to cancel some $100 billion of debt to some of the world’s poorest countries.

 “But thus far only nine out of 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries have qualified for relief worth some $15 billion”, he said.

 “I recognize that there are no simple solutions to the debt problem.  But where there is agreement in principle that debt relief is essential, and where delays have a profoundly negative impact on the lives of poor people, clearly more must be done.

 “I urge all parties to commit themselves to resolving their differences on this vital issue as a matter of urgency.”