§ 22. Mr. McNultyTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what efforts she has made to involve the churches in raising awareness of the links between debt relief and the eradication of poverty. [62765]
§ Clare ShortI am in regular touch with churches and representatives of other faiths on this important issue. I addressed the General Synod of the Church of England on 18 November, and called for us to join forces to construct a world-wide alliance of world faiths for the elimination of poverty during the next century. In this speech I made plain the Government's support for faster and deeper debt relief in the right circumstances. But I also make it clear that debt relief was no "magic bullet" to end all poverty, as some campaigners appear to believe. Nor should debt relief be unconditional or unilateral. Not all poor countries need debt relief, and where it is needed it should go only to those countries which are committed to the eradication of poverty. This approach has been fully endorsed by church groups and NGOs.