October 4

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In Week 4 of "A Developing World" we look at debt and structural adjustment.

The speaker for this evening is John Serieux. Mr. Serieux holds a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Toronto. He was formerly a senior researcher at the North-South Institute, and has served as lecturer in economics at the University of Malawi and the University of British Colombia. His major areas of expertise are development economics and international finance. Mr. Serieux has written extensively on the issue of debt relief for the poorest countries and was guest editor of the 2001 special issue of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies (Vol. XXI) devoted to Debt Relief for the Poorest Countries.

The title of his presentation is "Adjusting into and out of Debt: the HIPC experience" and will provide a balanced view on debt and structural adjustment.

Activities this evening will include meeting in small groups to review and discuss a debt and structural adjustment case study. You will then return to the larger group to present your findings.

Debt and Structural Adjustment Links:

• Reducing the Debt of the Poorest: Challenges and Opportunities - John E. Serieux, Researcher, The North-South Institute
  This paper attempts to put current debt reduction efforts into perspective by explicitly addressing the opportunities and complications of debt relief for the poorest countries. The aim is to help current attempts at debt relief become more cognizant of both the opportunities and limitations of debt relief, particularly in the context of wider global efforts at poverty reduction and continued human development in the developing world.

• Bretton Woods Project - Structural Adjustment/PRSPs
  Documents and links on the World Bank and IMF's structural adjustment policies and operations, including the new Poverty Reduction Strategy approach.

• From Unsustainable Debt to Poverty Reduction: Reforming the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative - Oxfam International
  Debt sustainability cannot be captured solely by reference to financial indicators. Basic human needs must also be taken into account. For the HIPCs, the scale of unmet social need is too vast, and the rate of progress in human development too slow, to leave any doubt about the need for increased budget resources for poverty reduction. Debt relief is one mechanism through which these resources could be provided.

• Debt Relief: Still Failing the Poor - Oxfam International
  Of the twenty-two countries receiving debt relief, three-quarters will be spending over ten per cent of government revenue on debt this year. Sixteen countries will be spending more on debt than on the health of their citizens, and ten will be spending more on debt than on primary education and health combined. Oxfam is calling for deeper and wider debt relief, and for 100% cancellation of IMF and World Bank debt.

• IMF - Debt Relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative
  The IMF and the World Bank have designed a framework to provide special assistance for heavily indebted poor countries that pursue IMF- and World Bank-supported adjustment and reform programs, but for whom traditional debt relief mechanisms are insufficient. The HIPC Initiative entails coordinated action by the international financial community, including multilateral institutions, to reduce to sustainable levels the external debt burden of these countries. This factsheet describes the HIPC Initiative including the enhancements in September 1999 and progress in its implementation through August 2001.

• The World Bank Group Development Topics: Economics and Trade
  Economics is the main discipline that World Bank staff, country policymakers, and policy analysts use in assessing development progress and in designing and implementing policies to achieve sustainable development. In this sense, economics is suffused throughout the World Bank's analytical work and lending operations.

• World Trade Organization Home Page
  The WTO website contains material for a range of users, from the general public to students, academics and trade specialists. It includes introductions to WTO activities and a large database of official documents.

• United Nations Development Programme
  UNDP provides funds; helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively; and promotes South-South cooperation. It seeks to address the many causes of poverty and to promote development, including through the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women.

• Occasional Paper Series on Gender, Trade and Development - Women's Economic Agenda in the 21st Century
  The Gender and Development (GAD) approach demands transformative change in gender relations from household to global politic and policy and within all the mediating institutions, such as governments, the World Bank, the IMF and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Based on this analysis, women and pro-equality development practitioners advocated mainstreaming gender analysis into all policy and programming both in design and impact assessment.

• Gender - The Forgotten Dimension in Poverty Reduction - Oxfam International
  A year ago the IMF and World Bank agreed major changes to the way they would operate in low-income countries. They promised to replace their structural adjustment programmes with a new approach, focused on poverty reduction, and led by national governments with civil society involvement. This shift was due partly to intensive public campaigning on debt relief, and the negative impact of adjustment programmes - both areas where Oxfam has played a major role.

• Structural Adjustment Programmes
  What are Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs)? What are SAPs Designed to Do? What Measures are Imposed Under SAPs? Why the Need for SAPS? What's Wrong with SAPs? Are there Alternatives?

• The Beggar's Hand
  An online educational package on Poverty. Includes ten lesson plans for a course/ workshop.

• International Gender and Trade Network
  The IGTN is an international network of gender advocates actively working to promote equitable, social, and sustainable trade.

• National Post Article - When Governments Ruled Corporations
  Governments used to be able to act in the public's best interest, but now we've made them powerless

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