Relieve the Foreign Debt Burden of World's Poorest Countries by The Guardian 9:57am 10th Jun, 2004   .June 8, 2004 (The Guardian: Leader)    Sea Island, off the coast of Georgia in the United States, is home to the endangered loggerhead sea turtle and, for the next three days, the leaders of the world's major industrialised powers. The fragile nesting sites of the rare sea turtle will, according to the organisers, be shielded from the comings and goings of the G8 summit that begins today. But given the unsettled agenda for the meeting, loggerheads may describe the summit's leaders as well as the turtles.    The US brings to the negotiating table a number of pressing concerns of its own, principally the question of Iraq's outstanding $120bn foreign debt and the promotion of secular institutions in the Arab world. This being a US election year, many of its proposals are being made with at least one eye on their photo opportunities. The danger is that, like the sea turtles' eggs, the delicate issue of trying to help some of the world's poorest countries may get trodden into the sand.    The most immediate issue should be the extension of the heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC), an effort to relieve the foreign debt of 42 of the world's least developed countries, which expires at the end of this year. While there is little doubt that HIPC will be extended, the level of funding it receives is crucial - the World Bank having estimated that $2.3bn is required to meet HIPC's aims. So far a $1bn top-up is in the works, along with a strong UK proposal, said to be supported by the US, for additional relief on the debt owed by developing nations to multilateral lenders such as the IMF. The quid pro quo, though, may be a trade-off between HIPC and a deal on Iraq's debt. The US would like Iraq's creditors to forgive as much as 90% of their loans, although France and Russia want to settle for a lower proportion. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Iraq's treatment, the almost absurd situation is that the G8 is likely to be arguing over the proportion of debt to forgive for a single country, when for a fraction of a similar amount the most blighted nations of Africa would have a great burden of debt lifted from their backs.    As at the previous two G8 summits, the US has ensured the agenda is dominated by security issues related to its "war on terror", most notably a series of micro-proposals that include a G8-wide plan to share information on airport screening, stolen passports and suspected terrorists. Britain is backing US proposals for training and supporting international peace missions, while the US is also pitching for funds to train teachers in the Middle East and north Africa. Yet the US's more strategic plans for promoting democracy in the Middle East have failed to achieve much support, as the diplomatic climate has hardened against the US action in Iraq.    The pessimistic view is that little will be achieved, whether on development or restarting the stalled Doha trade round, while attention remains focussed on the Middle East and security, and otherwise distracted by November's US elections. The more optimistic view is that real progress can be made next year, when the UK enjoys the double privilege of hosting the 2005 G8 summit and holding the presidency of the European Union. That should allow the British government to press ahead with its priorities on debt relief and development, world trade and summoning greater efforts to meet the UN's millennium development goals by 2015.    The G8's supporters need a successful summit soon. Barely half of the 2003 Evian summit's agreed proposals have been successfully implemented by member states, while another barren year or two would call into question the point of the G8 as a forum. Without concrete achievements and a revised membership - such as swapping Canada for China - the giant turtles may not be the only endangered species on Sea Island.
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