April 2000

Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC.

Debt Relief for Mozambique

Sue Dorfman is a photojournalist who has served in Mozambique.

Torrential rains in February and early March devastated parts of Southern Africa. While Mozambique bore the brunt of the disaster, Botswana, Madagascar, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all were affected. More than a million people were displaced, the majority of the livestock drowned, croplands in the southern part of the country destroyed, and the infrastructure of roads, rails, bridges, dams, and power lines damaged. An estimated 1-2 million landmines, remnants of the previous decades' civil war, were dislodged. International relief and redevelopment efforts are underway, through the unprecedented cooperation of regional governments, international military troops, and non-governmental organizations. The Mozambican government estimates the cost of reconstruction will be $250 million, of which approximately $150 million has been pledged.

In mid-March, the heads of state of seven Southern African nations met in Mozambique to discuss the implementation of a coordinated regional early warning system for natural disasters and to call for the cancellation of all of Mozambique's foreign debt. With the flooding, it became clear that the destruction of wetlands and the management of river levels upstream in neighboring countries had played out downstream in southern Mozambique.

Mozambique is currently paying approximately $1.4 million per week to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and western governments. Although scheduled to receive some debt cancellation in April 2000, the absence of total debt relief will mean that Mozambique will pay out around $1.1 million each week--a reduction of only 15%. Even with total bilateral debt cancellation, Mozambique will still pay out crucial dollars needed for recovery to international monetary institutions.

On March 15, the informal group of creditor nations known at the Paris Club fell short of the request to cancel Mozambique's bilateral debts and instead agreed to defer debt payments until a global agreement is reached on how to handle the debts. Some of these countries have already cancelled the debts. Others are awaiting the outcome of the accord. In March, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the Treasury Department is moving to forgive the $4.9 million debt, a policy move which faces opposition in Congress. The World Bank and the IMF meet jointly on April 9 to reexamine the question of canceling debt to the world's poorest nations.

While the Paris Club's announcement and the Mozambican government's reaction made the wires and BBC, it didn't make it into most of the major US press. Floods, famines, and AIDS orphans get some coverage and the occasional front page. Meanwhile, the aftermath of natural disasters and the complexities of debt relief and redevelopment get lost.

The dearth of coverage is in part a reflection of the shrinking coverage of all international news stories in the increasingly bottom-line driven publishing industry. In part, the absence of analysis and follow-up is the continuance of the US media's inattention to much of the Southern Hemisphere and Asia. Without the US media's and grassroot advocates' spotlight on Mozambique, it is questionable what response there would have been to "yet one more disaster." Without continued attention paid to the next phase, in all likelihood the promise to follow through on the needs of Mozambique and other countries that benefit from disaster coverage will remain just that--words.

Further information and getting involved

Your letters do make a difference. Write an Op Ed or letter to the editor. Contact the paper's ombudsman and news editor to demand more coverage of the regions you care about. In the changing realm of the newsroom, many papers no longer have a separate International Desk, and rely on a broad range of external criteria which varies from paper to paper on what stories get placed. Your input can break the myth that Americans don't care about international news, particularly from the developing world. Write to support debt relief and comprehensive funding for reconstruction:

    Your local congressperson (www.house.gov/congressperson or www.senate.gov/congressperson)

    President William Clinton, The White House, Washington, DC 20500; <president@whitehouse.gov>

    Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of African Affairs Department of State, Room 6234A, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20520

    Gayle Smith, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of African Affairs, National Security Council, The White House, Washington, DC 20500

    James Leach, R-Iowa, House Banking Committee Chair, 2128 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515

    International Monetary Fund, Stanley Fisher, Acting Managing Director, H Street NW, Washington DC 20009; www.imf.org

    World Bank, James Wolfensohn, President, 1818 H Street, NW, Washington DC 20433

To send aid: AFSC is accepting donations to fund reconstruction and long-term development in Mozambique. Send checks to AFSC/Mozambique Aid, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102.

For information on Southern Africa:

   www.crisisweb.org/projects/af_links.htm#8

The most comprehensive site and gateway for Africa listings is the International Crisis Group's Directory of Websites on Africa.

    www.africanews.org

The always excellent Africa News Online's special site on the Southern African Floods.

    www.poptel.org.uk/mozambique-news/

For current news from Mozambique (compiled in London) go to the English language site for AIM Reports (London) and Mozambique News Agency.

[Sue Dorfman has also supplied a more comprehensive list of websites. To obtain it, contact Peacework at <pwork@igc.org>]

From the Boston Globe, March 10, 2000. Andy Epstein worked as a nurse in Mozambique. Loretta J. Williams is director of Myers Book Awards at Boston University.

At the same time, developed nations have an obligation to respond to the mounting damages from the extreme weather associated with climate change. Extreme weather events, particularly intense precipitation, have been especially punishing for poor nations, such as Honduras, Venezuela, those in the Horn of Africa, China, and Bangladesh. Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina and the twin Christmas windstorms felling France's forests demonstrate that no nation is immune.

Climate change comes from burning fossil fuels, as released carbon traps heat in the atmosphere. An overheated Indian Ocean--so warm that most of its coral has beached--fed the torrential rains and cyclones that battered southern Africa. Thousands may lie under the flood waters, while the deluge displaced hundreds of thousands, destroyed 141 schools, numerous roads and bridges, and is spreading malaria, respiratory disease, dysentery, and cholera.

The disaster in Mozambique can become a turning point for public awareness of the enormous potency of climate disruption and the need for development based on alternative fuels. In the immediate future, clean energy sources are needed to pump and purify water and to power rural health centers and schools. In the long run, new energy sources can complement environmentally sound policies that preserve forests and protect coastal zones.