Debt campaigners welcome the decision of the Paris Club of creditors to cancel US$347 million of Togo's debt and impose a moratorium on remaining payments to these creditors until 2011.
A national grassroots campaign mounted by Jubilee USA, the international humanitarian agency, Church World Service (the ecumenical Christian relief network) and allied organizations is urging Americans to send Valentine's Day wishes to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, asking him to have a heart and cancel Liberia's 3.5 billion dollar debt.
Operation Noah, the churches' campaign to avert catastrophic climate change, has appointed Ann Pettifor, one of the architects of the widely-praised Jubilee 2000 anti-debt initiative, as its new Campaign Director.