Amnesty Int’l urges global leaders to commit to debt relief for Zambia, other low-income countries

World leaders attending a summit in Paris must ensure that wealthier nations commit to comprehensive debt relief for lower-income nations like Zambia, including the cancellation of loans and to the scaling up of international assistance to vulnerable states, Amnesty International has said.

Agnès Callamard, the Amnesty International’s Secretary General said countries have failed to fulfil a pledge to provide US$100 billion annually to help states mitigate and adapt to climate change and a separate loss and damage fund has yet to be funded and become operational.

Callamard made the call in a statement issued in Lusaka on Thursday as the meeting opens in France which President Hakainde Hichilema and others leaders are attending and being hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

She said Amnesty International is calling on the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact (PACT) to ensure wealthier nations honour previous financial pledges they have failed to meet and adopt new ones which guarantee the rights of people in lower-income countries.

“The rights to an adequate standard of living and to social security are enshrined in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which has been ratified by more than 170 countries,” Callamard said.

She said Article 2 of the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) obliges states to take steps, including through international cooperation and assistance, to support other states to meet their economic and social rights obligations.

“Many vulnerable, lower-income states have been overwhelmed by economic shocks, debts they cannot pay, and the effects of climate change – a crisis to which they contributed very little, but which is costing people in these countries dearly.

These are unprecedented challenges that require a rethink of how the world’s financial architecture is set up,” Callamard said.

She said the rights of many people in vulnerable countries to access healthcare and social protection are not met at even the most basic level.

Callamard said there is a vital need to provide financial and technical assistance to these countries so that they can scale up social protection schemes to guarantee people’s right to an adequate standard of living.

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