world bank - background guide

7/29/2019 World Bank - BACKGROUND Guide

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ROME MODEL UNITED NATIONS- 2013 EDITION

1

WORLD BANK BACKGROUND GUIDE

PREPARED BY

Mr. LEE Howon

Chairperson World Bank-RomeMUN 2013

and

Mr. SPROCCATI Giacomo

Director World Bank-RomeMUN 2013


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CONTENTS

World Bank BACKGROUND Guide .................................................................................................................................. 1

PRESENTATION CHAIRPERSON AND DIRECTOR-WORLD BANK-ROMEMUN 2013 ......................................................... 3

Council Information................................................................................................................................................... 6

MDG Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 7

TOPIC A-TARGET 8.A ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system ...................... 9

A Unique Theoretical Answer? : ............................................................................................................................... 10

An Unequal Access to Markets Where Does the Problem Lie? : ........................................................................... 11

The Specific Case of Agricultural Tariffs How to Create Better Conditions? : ....................................................... 14

Potential Solutions and the Path Forward ............................................................................................................... 16

TOPIC B-TARGET 8.D .................................................................................................................................................... 18

Deal comprehensively with the debt problems of developing countries ................................................................ 18

LAST DEVELOPMENT ON THE ISSUE AT THE UNITED NATIONS ............................................................................... 21

MDG 8.D AND WORLD BANK ................................................................................................................................... 31

Two step process .................................................................................................................................................. 33

Debt relief frees up resources for social spending ............................................................................................... 34

IMF debt relief complemented by other sources ................................................................................................ 35

Challenges remain ................................................................................................................................................ 35

BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................................. 38


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PRESENTATION CHAIRPERSON AND DIRECTOR-WORLD BANK-ROMEMUN

2013

Chair - HOWON LEE- [email protected]

Ladies and gentlemen, My name is Howon Lee from Palo Alto, California! Im currently doing my

studies in a triple degree program with Sciences Po Paris, Columbia University and the

Universit Pierre et Marie Curie, majoring in economics, law, and biochemistry, and later hope

to enter intellectual property law. As for MUN, my career began at the beginning of high school

and since I have attended nearly 20 conferences from Berkeley to Brussels. This year, I look

forward to being your chair in the World Bank at RomeMUN 2013 and to a great week of debate

on MDG 8! All the best for the upcoming RomeMUN 2013 Conference!

Director - GIACOMO SPROCCATI- [email protected]

My name is Giacomo Sproccati and Im a student at the University of Milan since September

2012. I have taken part in the first Model United Nations conference in 2009 at Bocconi

University and I remained so enthusiastic about it that I had continued it for 4 remaining years

at high school. After MilanMUN I have participated in many other conferences such as GeMUN,

RRSMUN, PAMUN and others. I started as a delegate and I experienced different committees,

but in February 2011 in Genoa I was a deputy chair for the first time. My last year has definitelybeen the most successful one: I was President of the DevCom at GeMUN and Secretary General

in MilanMUN 2012. In 2010 I was given the fantastic opportunity to take part in the MUN

conference for university students in Milan as the Conference Manager Assistant although I was

attending the third year of high-school. It has been really an interesting experience, it gave me

the chance to come closer to a different reality. Another very different experience happened to

me a month ago when I took a group of students to an MUN conference in Chennai, India, as


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the second chaperone of the group. Moreover, in GeMUN 2013 Im going to be a chair in the

Economic and Financial Committee. As far as my interests are concerned Im a person who

enjoys dancing hip-hop and spending time with other people, especially if they come from

abroad. I also appreciate a lot traveling, skiing and listening to music.

VERY IMPORTANT: PLEASE REMIND THAT EACH COUNTRY HAS TO

PRESENT A COPY OF THE POSITION PAPER ABOUT THE TWO AGENDA

TOPICS OF THIS COMMITTEE BY MARCH 1ST

, EMAILING IT AS

ATTACHMENT IN WORD FORMAT TO [email protected]

ALL THE INDICATIONS ABOUT HOW TO PREPARE A POSITION PAPER IS

NOT IN THIS GUIDE BUT IN THE DELEGATE GUIDE (AVAILABLE ON

ROMEMUN FORUM)


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COUNTRIES REPRESENTED AT THEWORLD BANK IN ROMEMUN 2013

EDITION

Afghanistan Nigeria

Argentina Norway

Armenia Pakistan

Australia Peru

Azerbaijan Philippines

Bangladesh Poland

Belgium Portugal

Bolivia QatarBrazil Romania

Canada Russian Federation

China Rwanda

France Saudi Arabia

Georgia Senegal

Guatemala Serbia

India Sierra Leone

Indonesia Singapore

Iran South Africa

Iraq SpainIsrael Sri Lanka

Italy Sudan

Japan Sweden

Kenya Syria

Latvia The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Lebanon Togo

Libya Turkey

Luxembourg Ukraine

Malaysia United Arab Emirates

Mauritania United KingdomMexico United States

Mongolia Uzbekistan

Morocco Zimbabwe

Nepal

Netherlands

New Zealand


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COUNCIL INFORMATION

The World Bank (WB) was founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 with the goal of

helping countries rebuild after World War II. Its first loan was one of $250 million to France,

after a stringent application process, which also required France to remove all communist

elements from its government. However, the subsequent Marshall Plan forced the World Bank

to loosen its requirements for lending and also expand its territorial focus.

The World Bank today now has a completely different face and it has transferred its focus from

reconstruction to poverty reduction as the overarching goal. It is now part of the World Bank

Group (WBG), which encompasses the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

(IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation

(IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the International Settlement

of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The World Bank should not be confused with the WBG as the

World Bank itself only comprises the IBRD and the IDA. The World Banks headquarters are

located in Washington, D.C., although it has personnel working all over the world and its current

president is Jim Yong Kim, former President of Dartmouth College.

As the World Bank, we will be looking at how to tackle both Millennium Development Goals

(MDG) 8A and 8D. Although we will be following RomeMUNs rules of procedure, the World

Bank has mandates different from UN organs. Its main means of action is through loans and

grants via the IBRD (more focused on middle-income developing countries) and the IDA

(focused on the worlds poorest developing countries), but it can also call for assistance and aid

to any of the other three WBG institutions and advise global economic policy. It will be up to

delegates, what will be the necessary measures to solve the crisis at hand.


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MDG INTRODUCTION

In 2000, at the UN headquarters in New York, took place the Millennium Summit, a meeting

that saw 189 nations present. The conclusion of this reunion was an agreement: make the world

a better and more equal place for each inhabitant, especially for the less privileged. In order to

formalize this decision, the assembly created the United Nations Millennium Declaration, a

document composed by 8 different achievements, defined as Millennium Development Goals,

to be carried out by the year 2015. Moreover, its important to underline that each goal is

divided into targets, they can vary from one to four but their aim is always the same: increase

the effectiveness. The MDGs are the symbol of the willingness of many nations step forward

significantly and its fundamental to bear in mind that this initiative will come true just if

everyone put as much commitment as they can in it. Lets analyze briefly each goal:

1. Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger: this doesnt only mean improving food safetyand food security but also incrementing jobs in the poorest countries.

2. Achieving universal primary education: make sure that every child of both genders isable to complete the primary school.

3. Promote gender equality and empower women: starting from the school, at thebeginning at the lower levels (primary and middle) and then at the higher, eliminating

gender dissimilarity. In addition making sure that the presence of women increases

under every aspect of our life.

4. Reduce child mortality rates: deflate the number of under-five death children andfighting against illnesses such as measles.


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5. Improve maternal health: with this goal, on one hand, maternal mortality ratio willdecrease and on the other, will raise universally the access to the reproductive health

which means contraceptives and any other kind of support related to the topic.

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases: in order to do it its important to giveaccess to cure to these illnesses and prevent them through knowledge and condoms.

7. Ensure environmental sustainability: making sure that every nation adopts the principlessustainable development in their policies and reduce by 50% the portion of population

that doesnt have access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

8. Develop a global partnership for development: this goal aims at the creation of a newtrading and financial system that will be more open, rule-based, predictable and non-

discriminatory; cooperating with pharmaceutical in order to guarantee access to basic

drugs with affordable costs; working for making usable the benefits of new technology,

especially in the fields of information and communication, with the participation of the

private sector; dealing worldwide with debt problems in the developing countries in

order to turn debt into reasonable in long term thanks to national and international

policies.


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TOPIC A-TARGET 8.A

DEVELOP FURTHER AN OPEN, RULE-BASED, PREDICTABLE, NON-DISCRIMINATORY TRADING

AND FINANCIAL SYSTEM

During this committee session, the World Bank will tackle Millennium Development Goal (MDG)

8, which seeks to develop a global partnership for development. The first topic will cover MDG

8A, which, more precisely, seeks to develop further an open, rule-based, predictable,nondiscriminatory trading and financial system, where developing countries gain greater

access to the markets of developed countries and least developed countries benefit most from

tariff reductions, especially on their agricultural products.1

The World Bank, which has long been

a proponent of an open market, must now look to see how it can further help the current

situation. The World Bank has notably identified five factors to strengthen a global partnership:

promoting debt relief, developing IT infrastructure, expanding trade agreements, improving

access to affordable drugs, and increasing poverty-reducing expenditures.

2

Of course, not all arepertinent to MDG 8A and delegates must decide those that are necessary to fulfill MDG 8A.

It is important to remember that the World Bank does not function in the same manner as UN

organs. Thanks to the World Banks collaboration with multilateral and local partners, actors

often look towards to the World Bank to quicken progress towards the realization of MDG 8.

Delegates will have to be able to balance the traditional World Bank poverty reduction

strategies (country-specific focus) and the international policy necessary within the context of

RomeMUN 2013.

1"A Global Partnership for Development." Millennium Development Goals. United Nations Development

Programme. http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/mdgoverview/mdg_goals/mdg8/.2"Develop a Global Partnership for Development by 2015." The World Bank. The World Bank Group.

http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs/global_partnership.html.


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A UNIQUE THEORETICAL ANSWER? :

Development economics is a relatively new field of economics, finding its roots during the

industrialization of Eastern Europe after World War II. Early theories based their analyses on

Europe and the United States, which led to the failure of certain early theories, such as the

linear-stages-of-growth model, which placed too much importance on capital accumulation as a

factor of development. As a result the application of theories such as Rostows stages of

economic growth (1960) and the Harrod-Domar Growth model (1947) often failed to materialize

in less economically developed countries (LDCs). Furthermore, the Lewis model, which sought to

describe the structural change from a traditional subsistence agricultural economy to a more

modern industrial economy. However, this often neglected the agricultural sector, which, if

applied today, would have devastating effects worldwide, and is notably important when

looking at agricultural imports. Nonetheless, development economics soon expanded to include

Africa, Asia, and Latin America, the regions of the world that require our focus, and have

updated to take into account the factors of todays globalized world.3

The subsequent international dependency (1970s) and neoclassical theories (1980s) took into

account some of the specificities of globalization, but failed to deliver an empirical

substantiation of development economics. Even the current New Growth Model and the Big

Push (or Rosenstein-Rodan) Model fail to curry wide scale approval. The only consensus that

seems to appear is that there is no universally accepted or applicable paradigm, meaning that

further analysis is required as we move forward in our debate. It is therefore essential to

identify the strengths and weaknesses of any proposals put forward by the World Bank and to

3Poncet, Sandra. "Classic Theories of Economic Development." Lecture. Development Economics. Sciences Po,

Paris. http://ces.univ-paris1.fr/membre/Poncet/SciencesPo/Lecture%202%20seminar.pdf.


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ensure that a regional approach is considered to avoid the pitfalls that a Universalist approach

could bring.4

AN UNEQUAL ACCESS TO MARKETS WHERE DOES THE PROBLEM LIE? :

The first target of MDG 8A is to help developing countries gain greater access to the markets of

developed countries. Huge progress has been made in the past two decades, notably in

Southeast Asia, where countries have been able to create a strong export economy, but many

parts of Africa fail to be able to profit from the advantages of a globalized economy. However, it

is important to note that this not mean in any way that LDCs are detached from the boom and

bust cycles of developed nations, and during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, suffered greater

consequences than developed nations (view graph below). For example, growth in Kenya

dropped from 7% in 2007 to 3-4% in 2009.5

5 (Graph p. 2)

4Poncet, Sandra. "Contemporary Theories of Economic Development." Development Economics. Sciences Po, Paris.

http://ces.univ-paris1.fr/membre/Poncet/SciencesPo/Lecture%203%20seminar.pdf.5Willem Te Velde, Dirk. "The Global Financial Crisis and Developing Countries: Taking Stock, Taking

Action." Overseas Development Institute (September, 2009). http://www.odi.org.uk/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-

assets/publications-opinion-files/3705.pdf.


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Nonetheless, world trade bounced back from the collapse and developing countries especially

developing countries, whose value of exports now surpasses pre-crisis levels. And despite fears

of a return to protectionism, interest groups seeking a renewed nationalism had extremely

limited success. Yet the situation is clearly not all hearts and flowers as the Doha Development

Round or Doha Development Agenda, which began in November 2001, has still failed to bring

about any coherent policy changes despite early successes on access to patented medicines and

TRIPS. Major differences exist between the two major blocs, developed nations led by EU, USA,

Japan and developing nations led by Brazil, China, India, South Korea, and South Africa, on all

issues of market access within the DDA: agriculture, services, and NAMA (Non-Agricultural

Market Access).6

The unwillingness of developed nations to eliminate or even lower tariffs

demonstrates a will to protect their own economies over the development of LDCs (c.f. next

section on agricultural tariffs).

This is apparent when looking at the proportion of LDCs benefitting from true preferential trade

with richer nations. Although the percentage of LDCs benefiting from either duty-free under

true preference or under most favored nation treatment (MFN)7

has steadily increased in the

past two decades (see graph below), it has not necessarily helped or given an advantage to

LDCs.

6Fergusson, Ian F. World Trade Organization Negotiations the Doha Development Agenda. US Congress,

Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service (Order Code RL32060), Library of Congress, 2012.

http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32060.pdf.7For more information on MFN, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_favored_nation.


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8 (Graph p. 62)

This clear upward trend has created a truly preferential regime for developing and LDCs. 8 The

World Trade Organization (WTO), which encompasses over 95% of all trade, requires under

article I:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)9

that WTO members grant

MFN treatment immediately and unconditionally to the like products of other members with

respect to custom duties and import charges, internal taxes and regulations, and other trade-

related matters. However, regional preference schemes such as the Caribbean Basin Economic

Recovery Act (CBERA)10

, the Andean Trade Preference Act (ATPA) and the African Growth and

Opportunity Act (AGOA)11

, and the 1999 Preferential Tariff Treatment for LDCs waive or modify

GATT Article I:1, which greatly benefit LDCs.12 However, non-LDC developing countries often

8The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012. United Nations Publications, 2012.

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/The_MDG_Report_2012.pdf.9

For more information on GATT, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Agreement_on_Tariffs_and_Trade. Full

text can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/gatt47_01_e.htm (GATT 1947) and

http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/06-gatt_e.htm (GATT 1994, must be read with GATT 1947).10

Permanent in the USA until 2020 (Grimmett, p. 7)11

Authorized in the USA until 2015 (Grimmett, p. 7)12

Grimmett, Jeanne, J. Trade Preferences for Developing Countries and the WTO. US Congress. Washington, D.C.:

Congressional Research Service (RS22183), Library of Congress, 2007.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS22183.pdf.


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only have access to markets free of duty because that product is no longer taxed under the MFN

regime.13

THE SPECIFIC CASE OF AGRICULTURAL TARIFFS HOW TO CREATE BETTER CONDITIONS? :

Reductions of agricultural tariffs remain one of the most important goals for developing

countries and it has been evident throughout the Doha Round. Although a generalized

preference plan is preferred, developing countries often lack the infrastructure to take

advantage of a tariff reduction in automobile exports for example, whereas all countries have at

least some sort of agricultural industry. However, agricultural tariffs often do not come in the

form of a duty, but rather subsidies, making them much more difficult to resolve, to the point

that agriculture has become the linchpin of the DDA. Some African countries are even calling for

an end to cotton subsidies in the USA and EU, claiming that these subsidies are destroying the

market for smaller African producers. However, these subsidies are invaluable in their role in

keeping down food prices. A $1 rise in food prices puts 160 million more people in hunger,

whereas a similar drop in food prices has devastating effects on producers.

As with market access, the situation has improved over the past two decades (see graph below),

but tariffs still exist. The blockade in the DDA today demonstrates a certain unwillingness to

enter a completely liberalized agricultural market (mainly due to powerful pressure from

farmers at home).14

Nonetheless, there is a general agreement that agricultural subsidies must

be eliminated, seen by the pledge by WTO members to eliminate export subsidies and export

measures with equivalent effect by 2013 during the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial. A

three band methodology was undertaken, where the EU occupied the highest band, the USA

13Graph explained in greater detail in source 8, p. 62. More information on Preference Programs through the USTR

can be found at http://www.ustr.gov/trade-topics/trade-development/preference-programs.14

The approximate position of each caucus bloc can be found in CRS RL33144 (WTO Doha Round: The Agricultural

Negotiations by Charles E. Hanrahan and Randy Schnepf) pages 13-21 at

http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL33144.pdf.


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and Japan the second band, and lesser subsidizing countries in the third, with tariff decreases

negotiated in a later round.15,16

8 (Graph p. 63)

However, despite what critics say, the lowering or elimination of agricultural tariffs is not a

charity performed unto developing nations. Multiple studies forecast an increase of global

welfare if the DDA were to be successful in reducing budget cuts. A study by the University of

Michigan even predicts an increase of $574 billion if all trade barriers in agriculture, services,

15Developed country tariffs would be cut in a tiered formula in equal increments over five years: a 70% reduction

for tariffs currently above 75%, a 64% cut for tariffs currently between 50% and75%, a 57% cut for tariffs currently

between 20% and 50% and a 50% cut for tariffs between 0 and 20%. In addition, the draft stipulates a minimum

tariff cutof 54% for developed countries, after application of the formula and other exceptions. Developing

countries would be able to cut two-thirds of the amount of cuts agreed by developed countries from bands with

higher thresholds in equal installments over 10 years. (Fergusson. World Trade Organization Negotiations: The

Doha Development Agenda, p. 12-13)16

Fergusson, Ian F. World Trade Organization Negotiations the Doha Development Agenda. US Congress,


http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32060.pdf.


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and manufactures were reduced by 33% due to the DDA,17

but more modest predictions vary

from $84 billion to $287 billion by the year 2015.18

The multilateral negotiations of the WTO are

especially important since they include developing countries that are sometimes left out of a

regional or bilateral trade agreement.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS AND THE PATH FORWARD

Unfortunately, MDG 8.A presents a difficult area for the World Bank to have a direct impact on,

but this does not mean that it must take a back seat in the issue. The World Banks extensive

network of analysts must be able to identify, which countries would benefit most from an

expansion of preferential treatment or further agricultural tariff reduction. Delegates will have

to negotiate and form blocs to ensure that their countrys position is heard as delegates lobby

for World Bank funds and advantageous policy advising. Convincing proposals can promise loans

for infrastructure necessary to compete in a global market.

Furthermore, when a country opens its markets, increased imports often cause economic

dislocations (much to the ire of many developed countries) at the local or regional level,

resulting in loss of jobs. The countries or regions that experience these sort of losses do not

17Brown, Drusilla K., Deardorff, Alan V. and Robert M. Stern. Computational Analysis of Multilateral

TradeLiberalization in the Uruguay Round and Doha Development Round. Discussion Paper No. 489. School of

PublicPolicy. The University of Michigan. December 8, 2002.18

Thomas W. Hertel and Roman Keeney, What is at Stake: The Relative Importance of Import Barriers, Export

Subsidies and Domestic Support, in Anderson and Martin, eds., Agricultural Trade Reform in the Doha Agenda

(Washington: World Bank, 2005); and Kym Anderson, Will Martin, and Dominique van der Mensbrugge, Doha

Merchandise Trade Reform: Whats At Stake for Developing Countries, July 2005, available at

http://www.worldbank.org/trade/wto. The different outcomes in these studies are due substantially to differing

assumptions concerning liberalization resulting from the Doha Round as well as from differences in the

econometric models themselves. For example, the World Bank studies do not attempt to quantify services

liberalization.


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benefit from the multilateral trade agreements called for in MDG 8.A. As a result, the World

Bank has a crucial role to play in order to be able to mitigate negative externalities.19

Delegates should also look to the potential that exists for developing and least-developed

countries in emerging markets. Possibly easier and more economically beneficial than entering

the highly competitive space within developed nations, the emerging markets, especially that of

the BRICS nations, present a huge opportunity for developing and least-developed countries.20

19Fergusson, Ian F. World Trade Organization Negotiations the Doha Development Agenda. US Congress,


http://www.nationalaglawcenter.org/assets/crs/RL32060.pdf.20

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012. United Nations Publications, 2012.

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/The_MDG_Report_2012.pdf.


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TOPIC B-TARGET 8.D

DEAL COMPREHENSIVELY WITH THE DEBT PROBLEMS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

This year the committee of the World Bank (WB) is called to face the issue of the debt in the

developing countries at RomeMUN. This topic is not just a current but it is really relevant for

the future of the economy on our planet. The issue is pretty vast but it can be developedstarting from few points of interests. The first that we have chosen is the debt. The government

of every nation has to incur expenses, in some states they are higher whereas in others are

lower. In order to cover these costs, the government gets revenue from citizen through taxes

that can be direct, such as the ones paid on wages and enterprises, or indirect, such as the

value-added tax (VAT). When the income coming from taxes is not enough to cover the whole

public expenditure a nations has a deficit to face, which is the situation in which the entries of

the government are lower than the outflows.

Therefore, in this case, a nation has to face further cost and in order to get the money he needs

to do so the government issues state securities, such as BOT for Italy or BUND for Germany, on

which it has to pay interests. These latter contributes to enlarge the expenditures for the

government. The state securities create the public debt of a nation. Therefore, the government

is in a situation in which it needs current assets and the best way to do so is to get them from

sectors in which it is directly involved such as increase taxes on wages, on the VAT and decrease

the funds for public services, which can be school, health or retirements for example. It is

important to underline the fact that the western countries are the subject more afflicted by the

problem of the public debt, as it is possible to notice from the graphic below.


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The history of the past few years has taught that the public debt can be a very dangerous

element and it could be the first cause of a very difficult situation for a country. In Europe the

examples are many, Greece and Italy just to quote few, but the common denominator is that for

different reason the public debt was not given the attention needed and as a consequence the

measures carried out by the governments turned out to be unsuccessful. This situation causedvery bad aftereffects on citizens first of all.

Another relevant element for the topic regards the developing countries. Nowadays the

countries who are considered to be developing ones are the so called BRICS, an acronym that

stands for 5 different nations, such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.


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It is important to point out that South Africa has just recently joined this group of countries who

are considered to be the engine of the world economy in the years to come. These nations met

for the first time in June 2009 (South Africa was excluded from this reunion since it was included

one year later) and agreed on the necessity to find a new global currency that should be

diversified, stable and predictable. The BRICS are associated by few elements: the largest

amount of population on the planet, according to the CIA World Factbook currently the first two

countries with the higher population rate are respectively China and India, the factor of the

population is really important since theres a great internal request which is a factor that

contributes to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product(GDP), which means economic growth;

vast geographic territory that gives the chance to have access to a great quantity of natural

resources. The forecasts in the years to come indicate that both China and India will be the two

nations leading the growth process in the economy worldwide, as the following graphic states.


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LAST DEVELOPMENT ON THE ISSUE AT THE UNITED NATIONS

The United Nations deals with this issues many times in different summits and by different UN

agencies and committees, the following is the list of some of the most important meetings and

resolutions approved about the MGD8, target D:

Resolutions 58/203 of 23 December 200321,

59/223 of 22 December 2004

22

,

60/187 of 22 December 200523,

61/188 of 20 December 200624

,

62/186 of 19 December 200725

,

63/206 of 19 December 200826

,

64/191 of 21 December 200927,

65/144 of 20 December 201028

,

66/189 of 22 December 201129

,

United Nations Millennium Declaration, adopted on 8 September 2000,

Resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003,

21http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/58/230

22http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/59/223&Lang=E

23http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/60/187






29http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/res/66/189&Lang=E


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resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006

The International Conference on Financing for Development30 and its outcome document and

the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development31: outcome document of the Follow-up

International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the

Monterrey Consensus32

,

The Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development33

and its outcome document,

The High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development

Goals34

and its outcome document,

The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries35

and the Istanbul

Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade

2011-202036

,

The Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro37

, Brazil, from 20 to 22

June 2012, and its outcome document, entitled The future we want38

.

Recalling all those principles and measures approved and discussed in the above meetings and

resolutions the General Assembly (second committee-economic and financial) discussed last

December 2012 the resolution A/67/435/Add.3 which gives us a general idea of the issued as

deal by the UN:

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

30http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/ffdconf/

31http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/doha/documents/Doha_Declaration_FFD.pdf

32http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/

33http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/

34http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=amdg10&id_article=2233

35http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/ldc/home

36http://www.wfp.org/content/istanbul-programme-action-least-developed-countries-decade-2011-2020

37http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42281#.UPAB4W_aWWY

38http://www.un.org/en/sustainablefuture/pdf/rio20%20concludes_press%20release.pdf


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2. Emphasizes the special importance of a timely, effective, comprehensive and durablesolution to the debt problems of developing countries to promote their economic

growth and development;

3. Stresses the importance of responsible lending and borrowing, emphasizes that creditorsand debtors must share responsibility for preventing unsustainable debt situations, and

encourages Member States, the Bretton Woods institutions, the regional development

banks and other relevant multilateral financial institutions and stakeholders to continue

the ongoing discussions on this issue, inter alia, within the framework of the initiative of

the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, in order to articulate and

promote principles of responsible sovereign lending and borrowing;

4. Acknowledges the role played by the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-IncomeCountries, jointly developed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, to

guide borrowing and lending decisions, and encourages continued review of the

Framework in an open and transparent manner, with the full engagement of borrower

Governments;

5. Reiterates that no single indicator should be used to make definitive judgments about acountrys debt sustainability, and, in this regard, while acknowledging the need to use

transparent and comparable indicators, invites the International Monetary Fund and the

World Bank, in their assessment of debt sustainability, to continue to take into account

fundamental changes caused by, inter alia, natural disasters, conflicts and changes in

global growth prospects or in the terms of trade, especially for commodity-dependent

developing countries, as well as by the impact of developments in financial markets, and

to provide information on this issue to Member States, using the appropriate

frameworks;

6. Recognizes that the long-term sustainability of debt depends on, inter alia, economicgrowth, mobilization of domestic and international resources, export prospects of

debtor countries, responsible debt management, sound macroeconomic policies,

transparent and effective regulatory frameworks and success in overcoming structural


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development problems, and hence on the creation of an enabling international

environment that is conducive to development;

7. Also recognizes the enormity and the multidimensional nature of the world financial andeconomic crisis, which caused a sharp deterioration of the debt ratios in several

developing countries, stresses the need to continue to assist developing countries in

avoiding a build-up of unsustainable debt so as to reduce the risk of relapsing into

another debt crisis, takes note in this regard of the additional resources made available

during and since the crisis through the International Monetary Fund and the multilateral

development banks, and calls for the continued provision of concessional and grant-

based financing to low-income countries to enable them to respond to the

consequences of the crisis;

8. Further recognizes the roles of the United Nations and the international financialinstitutions in accordance with their respective mandates, and encourages them to

continue to support global efforts towards sustained, inclusive and equitable growth,

sustainable development and the external debt sustainability of developing countries,

including through continued monitoring of global financial flows and their implications in

this regard;

9. Emphasizes the need for coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debtrelief and debt restructuring, recalls, in this regard, the improvement of the lending

framework of the International Monetary Fund through, inter alia, streamlined

conditions and the creation of more flexible instruments, such as a precautionary and

liquidity line, while noting that new and ongoing programmes should not contain

unwarranted procyclical conditionalities, and urges the multilateral development banks

to continue to move forward on flexible, concessional, fast disbursing and front-loaded

assistance that will substantially and quickly assist developing countries facing financing

gaps in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, taking into

consideration the individual absorptive capacities and debt sustainability of those

countries;


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10.Notes the provision by the International Monetary Fund of interest relief to low-incomecountries in the form of zero-interest payments on financing from concessional lending

facilities until the end of 2012, and invites the Fund to consider extending its

concessional loan facilities for lowincome countries for the post-2012 period;

11.Also notes that countries can seek to negotiate, as a last resort, on a case-by-case basisand through existing frameworks, agreements on temporary debt standstills between

debtors and creditors in order to help mitigate the adverse impacts of the crisis and

stabilize macroeconomic developments;

12.Further notes the progress made under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiativeand the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative, while expressing concern that some countries

have yet to reach decision or completion points, calls for the full and timely

implementation of those Initiatives and for continued support to the remaining eligible

countries in completing the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative process, and

encourages all parties, both creditors and debtors, to fulfil their commitments as rapidly

as possible in order to complete the debt relief process;

13. Welcomes and encourages the efforts of the heavily indebted poor countries, calls uponthem to continue to promote economic growth and poverty eradication, and invites the

international financing institutions and the donor community to continue to provide

adequate and sufficiently concessional financing;

14.Encourages the international financial institutions to review the implementation and theimpact of debt relief initiatives to better understand why some countries still face

persisting debt problems after completion of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Initiative, and calls for the design of strategies to address them;

15.Underlines the fact that heavily indebted poor countries eligible for debt relief will notbe able to enjoy its full benefits unless all creditors, both public and private, contribute

their fair share and become involved in the international debt resolution mechanisms to

ensure the debt sustainability of those countries, and invites creditors, both private and

public, that are not yet fully participating in debt relief initiatives to substantially


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increase their participation, including through providing comparable treatment to the

extent possible to debtor countries that have concluded sustainable debt relief

agreements with creditors;

16.Stresses that debt relief can play a key role in liberating resources that should bedirected towards activities consistent with poverty eradication, sustained economic

growth, economic development and the internationally agreed development goals,

including the Millennium Development Goals, and in this regard urges countries to direct

the resources freed through debt relief, in particular through debt cancellation and

reduction, towards achieving those objectives, including in the context of the

development agenda beyond 2015, according to their national priorities and strategies;

17.Encourages donor countries to take steps to ensure that resources provided for debtrelief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative and the Multilateral Debt

Relief Initiative do not detract from official development assistance resources intended

for developing countries;

18.Also encourages donor countries to uphold their international aid commitments, asofficial development assistance constitutes an important source of financing for

developing countries to pursue the objectives outlined under the Millennium

Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals, recognizing

that official development assistance can also help countries to weather the negative

effects of the global financial and economic crisis on trade, investment, debt servicing,

remittances exchange rate volatility and capital flows;

19.Notes with concern that some low- and middle-income developing countries that havenot been eligible to benefit from existing debt relief initiatives may have large debt

burdens that may create constraints on mobilizing the resources needed to achieve the

internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,

indicating the need to design debt relief initiatives for those countries, and encourages

the consideration of medium- and long-term sustainability as well as new approaches to

deal with bilateral and private non-Paris Club debt; A/6


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20.Encourages the Paris Club, in dealing with the debt of low- and middle-income debtorcountries that are not part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, to take into

account their medium-term debt sustainability in addition to their financing gaps, and

notes with appreciation the Evian approach of the Paris Club in providing different terms

of debt relief in order to respond to the specific needs of debtor countries while

preserving debt cancellation for heavily indebted poor countries;

21.Stresses the need for the international community to remain vigilant in monitoring thedebt situation of the least developed countries and to continue to take effective

measures to address the debt problem of those countries, including through the

cancellation of the multilateral and bilateral debt owed by least developed countries to

creditors, both public and private;

22.Welcomes the efforts of and calls upon the international community to continue toprovide flexibility, and stresses the need to sustain those efforts in helping post-conflict

developing countries, especially those that are heavily indebted and poor, to achieve

initial reconstruction for economic and social development;

23.Also welcomes the efforts of and invites creditors to provide flexibility to developingcountries affected by natural disasters so as to allow them to address their debt

concerns, while taking into account their specific situations and needs;

24.Calls for the consideration of additional measures and initiatives aimed at ensuring long-term debt sustainability through increased grant-based and other forms of concessional

financing, the cancellation of 100 per cent of the eligible official multilateral and bilateral

debt of heavily indebted poor countries and, where appropriate and on a case-by-case

basis, significant debt relief or restructuring for developing countries with an

unsustainable debt burden that are not part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries

Initiative;

25.Invites donor countries, taking into account country-specific debt sustainabilityanalyses, to continue their efforts to increase bilateral grants to developing countries,

which could contribute to debt sustainability in the medium to long term, and recognizes


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the need for countries to be able to promote employment and productive investment

and to invest in, inter alia, health and education while maintaining debt sustainability;

26.Calls for the intensification of efforts to prevent and mitigate the prevalence and cost ofdebt crises by enhancing international financial mechanisms for crisis prevention and

resolution, encourages the public and the private sectors to cooperate in this regard,

and invites creditors and debtors to further explore, where appropriate and on a

mutually agreed, transparent and case-by-case basis, the use of new and improved debt

instruments and innovative mechanisms such as debt swaps, including debt for equity in

Millennium Development Goal projects, as well as debt indexation instruments;

27.Also calls for the consideration of enhanced approaches to sovereign debt restructuringand debt resolution mechanisms, with due consideration for existing frameworks and

principles, with the broad participation of creditors and debtors, the comparable

treatment of all creditorsand an important role for the Bretton Woods institutions and

other relevant organizations within the United Nations system, and in this regard calls

upon all countries to promote and contribute to the discussions, within the United

Nations and other appropriate forums, on the need for and feasibility of a more

structured framework for international cooperation in this area;

28.Takes note of the key issues identified at the special event of the Second Committee ofthe General Assembly held on the theme Sovereign debt crises and restructurings:

lessons learned and proposals for debt resolution mechanisms, including: the high cost

of debt restructuring for debtors and creditors, and the risks debt problems pose to

global financial stability; the lack of a standing body that can preserve the institutional

memory of debt distress, default and debt restructuring episodes and that, on the basis

of the insights they have provided, can facilitate the smoother treatment of sovereign

debt in the future by providing a venue for information discovery and negotiation; the

need for arrangements for temporary standstill agreements; the need to create

incentives for the early recognition of problems by debtors and the early engagement of

debtors and creditors, the independent assessment of debt sustainability and the ability


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to pay without compromising growth and access to financing; the need for a rules-based

mechanism for debt restructuring and creditor coordination, burden-sharing among

debtors and creditors and the establishment of creditor seniority and the prevention of

litigation and holdouts; and the role of the International Monetary Fund and the private

sector in interim financing with due attention to fiscal multipliers in designing policy

packages for debtors; and encourages the participant institutions and experts to

continue their work on these issues and to propose policy options for the future, as

appropriate;

29.Calls for the establishment of a General Assembly working group, with the participationof all relevant stakeholders, including the multilateral financial institutions, to continue

the study and examination of options for enhanced approaches to debt restructuring

and resolution mechanisms that take into account the multiple dimensions of debt

sustainability;

30.Notes the changing composition of the sovereign debt of some countries, which hasshifted increasingly from official to commercial borrowing and from external to domestic

public debt, although for most low income countries external finance is still largely

official, also notes that the levels of domestic debt and the significantly increased

number of creditors, both official and private, could create other challenges for

macroeconomic management and public debt sustainability, and stresses the need to

address the implications of those changes, including through improved data collection

and analysis;

31.Recognizes concerns about vulture fund litigation and that some debtor countries mayexperience difficulties in obtaining comparable treatment from non-Paris Club creditors,

as required by the standard clause included in Paris Club agreements, and encourages

the continued provision by the relevant institutions of mechanisms and legal assistance

to debtor countries to solve litigation issues;

32.Stresses the need to increase information-sharing, transparency and the use of objectivecriteria in the construction and evaluation of debt A/6 scenarios, including an


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assessment of domestic public and private debt, in order to ensure the achievement of

development goals, recognizes that credit rating agencies play a significant role in the

provision of information, including the assessment of corporate and sovereign risks, and

in this regard reiterates its invitation to the President of the General Assembly to

convene a thematic debate on the role of credit-rating agencies in the international

financial system, and requests the Secretary-General to report on new and ongoing

measures to establish new, or to improve, existing credit-rating agencies and their

capacity to accurately assess the creditworthiness of borrowers;

33.Invites the international community to continue efforts to increase support, includingfinancial and technical assistance, for institutional capacity building in developing

countries to enhance sustainable debt management as an integral part of national

development strategies, including by promoting transparent and accountable debt

management systems and negotiation and renegotiation capacities and through

supporting legal advice in relation to tackling external debt litigation and debt data

reconciliation between creditors and debtors so that debt sustainability may be achieved

and maintained;

34.Invites the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the InternationalMonetary Fund and the World Bank, in cooperation with the regional commissions,

regional development banks and other relevant multilateral financial institutions and

stakeholders, to continue and intensify cooperation in respect of capacity-building

activities in developing countries in the area of debt management and debt

sustainability;

35. Encourages further improvement of the mutual exchange of information, on a voluntarybasis, on borrowing and lending among all creditors and borrowers;

36.Acknowledges that timely and comprehensive data on the level and composition of debtare a condition necessary for, inter alia, building early warning systems aimed at limiting

the impact of debt crises, calls for debtor and creditor countries to intensify their efforts

to collect data, and calls for donors to consider increasing their support for technical


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cooperation programmes aimed at increasing the statistical capacity of developing

countries in that regard;

37.Calls upon all Member States and the United Nations system, and invites the BrettonWoods institutions and the private sector, to take appropriate measures and actions for

the implementation of the commitments, agreements and decisions of the major United

Nations conferences and summits, in particular those related to the question of the

external debt sustainability of developing countries;

38.Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-eighthsession a report on the implementation of the present resolution and to include in that

report a comprehensive and substantive analysis of the external debt situation of

developing countries;39

MDG 8.D AND WORLD BANK

We now have a look to what measures the World bank is putting in action forward the

achievement of the MDG 8, target D. In 1996, the World Bank and the International Monetary

Fund launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative so that countries

encumbered by debt could get back on their feet. In 2006, the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative

(MDRI) was launched to provide additional resources to HIPCs to meet the MDGs. By June 2010,

$76.4 billion in HIPC debt relief had been committed to 36 countries, of which 30 countries have

received an additional $45.8 billion under the MDRI. MDG 8 also addresses the digital divide.

Studies show that a 10% increase in high-speed Internet connections result in economic growth

of 1.3% in developing countries, yet many people live in rural areas without access or are too

poor to afford it. The World Bank is the largest international funder of information and

communication technology development, currently supporting projects in 95 countries.40

39http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/67/435/Add.3&Lang=E

40From http://www.worldbank.org/mdgs/global_partnership.html


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The main areas of action identify by the World bank are:

1. promoting debt relief2. developing IT infrastructure3. expanding trade agreements4. improving access to affordable drugs5. increasing poverty-reducing expenditures

A multilateral debt relief initiative has been discussed among the WB member states and the G8

countries, in fact at the July 2005 g8 summit in Scotland, leaders proposed to cancel the debt of

the worlds most indebted countries, most of which in Africa. Debt cancellation will be provided

by the IDA of the World Bank, the IMF and the African Development Fund to those countries

that have graduated from the Enhanced heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC)41

.

The HIPC Initiative was launched in 1996 by the IMF and World Bank, with the aim of ensuring

that no poor country faces a debt burden it cannot manage. Since then, the international

financial community, including multilateral organizations and governments have worked

together to reduce to sustainable levels the external debt burdens of the most heavily indebted

poor countries. In 1999, a comprehensive review of the Initiative allowed the Fund to provide

faster, deeper, and broader debt relief and strengthened the links between debt relief, poverty

reduction, and social policies. In 2005, to help accelerate progress toward the United

Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the HIPC Initiative was supplemented by the

Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The MDRI allows for 100 percent relief on eligible debts

by three multilateral institutionsthe IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Fund

(AfDF)for countries completing the HIPC Initiative process. In 2007, the Inter-American

Development Bank (IaDB) also decided to provide additional (beyond HIPC) debt relief to the

five HIPCs in the Western Hemisphere.42

41http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTDEBTDEPT/0,,contentMDK:20634753~menuPK:641667

39~pagePK:64166689~piPK:64166646~theSitePK:469043,00.html42

http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm


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TWO STEP PROCESS43

Countries must meet certain criteria, commit to poverty reduction through policy changes anddemonstrate a good track-record over time. The Fund and Bank provide interim debt relief in the

initial stage, and when a country meets its commitments, full debt-relief is provided.

FIRST STEP: DECISION POINT. To be considered for HIPC Initiative assistance, a country

must fulfill the following four conditions:

1. be eligible to borrow from the World Banks International Development Agency, whichprovides interest-free loans and grants to the worlds poorest countries, and from the IMFs

Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which provides loans to low-income countries at subsidized

rates.

2. face an unsustainable debt burden that cannot be addressed through traditional debtrelief mechanisms.

3. have established a track record of reform and sound policies through IMF-and WorldBank supported programs

4. have developed a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) through a broad-basedparticipatory process in the country.

Once a country has met or made sufficient progress in meeting these four criteria, the Executive

Boards of the IMF and World Bank formally decide on its eligibility for debt relief, and the

international community commits to reducing debt to a level that is considered sustainable. This

first stage under the HIPC Initiative is referred to as the decision point. Once a country reaches its

decision point, it may immediately begin receiving interim relief on its debt service falling due.

SECOND STEP: COMPLETION POINT. In order to receive full and irrevocable reduction in

debt available under the HIPC Initiative, a country must:

1. establish a further track record of good performance under programs supported by loansfrom the IMF and the World Bank.

2. implement satisfactorily key reforms agreed at the decision point.

43http://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/hipc.htm


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3. adopt and implement its PRSP for at least one year.Once a country has met these criteria, it can reach its completion point, which allows it to receive

the full debt relief committed at the decision point.

Countries receiving debt relief. Of the 39 countries eligible or potentially eligible for HIPC

Initiative assistance, 35 are receiving full debt relief from the IMF and other creditors after

reaching their completion points. One country, Chad, has reached a decision point and has

benefited from interim debt relief. Three countries, which have been identified as potentially

eligible for HIPC Initiative assistance, have not yet reached their decision points.

DEBT RELIEF FREES UP RESOURCES FOR SOCIAL SPENDING44

Debt relief is one part of a much larger effort, which also includes aid flows, to address the

development needs of low-income countries and make sure that debt sustainability is

maintained over time. For debt reduction to have a tangible impact on poverty, the additional

money needs to be spent on programs that benefit the poor.

Boosting social spending. Before the HIPC Initiative, eligible countries were, on average,

spending slightly more on debt service than on health and education combined. Now, they have

increased markedly their expenditures on health, education, and other social services. On

average, such spending is about five times the amount of debt-service payments.

Reducing debt service. For the 36 countries receiving debt relief, debt service paid, on average,

has declined by about two percentage points of GDP between 2001 and 2010. Their debt burden

is expected to be reduced by about 90 percent after the full delivery of debt relief (including

under the MDRI).

Improving public debt management. Debt relief has markedly improved the debt position ofpost-completion point countries, bringing their debt indicators down below those of other HIPCs

or non-HIPCs. However, many remain vulnerable to shocks, particularly those affecting exports

as seen during the current global economic crisis. To reduce their debt vulnerabilities decisively,



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countries need to pursue cautious borrowing policies and strengthen their public debt

management.

IMF DEBT RELIEF COMPLEMENTED BY OTH ER SOURCES45

About 45 percent of the funding comes from the IMF and other multilateral institutions, and the

remaining amount comes from bilateral creditors.

The total cost of providing assistance to the 39 countries that have been found eligible or

potentially eligible for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC Initiative is estimated to be about

$76 billion in end-2010 net present value terms.

The IMFs share of the cost is financed by bilateral contributions and resources from the Fund

itself, mainly investment income on the proceeds from off-market gold sales in 1999. These

funds were deposited to the IMFs PRG-HIPC Trust. Resources available in the trust are currently

insufficient to finance the cost of debt relief to all countries that meet the initial conditions for

debt relief and reach the decision point. The original financing plan did not include the cost of

debt relief to Sudan and Somalia, as well as to other countries that entered the Initiative after

2006. Should these countries progress to the decision point, there would be an urgent need to

mobilize resources.

CHALLENGES REMAIN

the four countries that have not yet completed the requirements for full debt relief face common

challenges, including preserving peace and stability, and improving governance and the delivery

of basic services. Addressing these challenges will require continued efforts from these countries

to strengthen policies and institutions, and support from the international community.

Another challenge is to ensure that eligible countries get full debt relief from all their creditors.

Although the largest creditors (the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the IMF, the

Inter-American Development Bank, and all Paris Club creditors) have provided their full share of

debt relief under the HIPC Initiative, and even beyond, others are lagging behind. Smaller



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multilateral institutions, non-Paris Club official bilateral creditors, and commercial creditors,

which together account for about 25 percent of total HIPC Initiative costs, have only delivered a

small share of their expected relief so far. Non-Paris Club bilateral creditors as a whole have

delivered around 40 percent of their share of HIPC Initiative debt relief, but about one third of

these creditors have not delivered any relief at all. While there has been some increase in the

delivery over the past few years, the rate of delivery remains disappointingly low.

The delivery of debt relief by commercial creditors has increased markedly in recent years

through a few large operations supported by IDAs Debt Reduction Facility buyback operations.

Some commercial creditors have initiated litigations against HIPCs, raising significant legal

challenges to burden sharing among all creditors, including the multilateral institutions. The

number of litigation cases against HIPCs has been declining in recent years but flattened over the

past few years.

Given the voluntary nature of creditor participation in the HIPC Initiative, the IMF and the World

Bank will continue to use moral suasion to encourage creditors to participate in the Initiative and

to deliver fully their share of HIPC Initiative debt relief.

The IMF and World Bank will also continue to improve their ability to monitor the delivery of

HIPC Initiative debt relief. The IMF will continue to address issues related to participation in the

HIPC Initiative during its regular consultations and other missions to creditor countries.

List of Countries That Have Qualified for, are Eligible or Potentially Eligible

and May Wish to Receive HIPC Initiative Assistance (as of January 2013)46

Post-Completion-Point Countries (34)

Afghanistan Ghana Mozambique

Benin Guinea Nicaragua

Bolivia Guinea-Bissau Niger

Burkina Faso Guyana Rwanda



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Burundi Haiti So Tom &

Prncipe

Cameroon Honduras Senegal

Central AfricanRepublic

Liberia Sierra Leone

Comoros Madagascar Tanzania

Republic of Congo Malawi Togo

DemocraticRepublic of Congo

Mali Uganda

Cte dIvoire Mauritania Zambia

Ethiopia

The Gambia

Interim Countries (Between Decision and Completion Point) (2)

Chad

Pre-Decision-Point Countries (3)

Eritrea Somalia Sudan


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