The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said in Abuja Wednesday that it endorsed a decision by African finance ministers to adopt a "militant and forceful" position on debt cancellation. The commission's executive secretary, Kingsley Amaoko, identifying debt and poverty reduction along with HIV/AIDS as the three major challenges facing African countries, said the enhanced High Indebted Poor Countries initiative was inadequate to address the African debt issue, according to DPA. "We now need more than goodwill. There simply has to be more significant action, with influential partners such as the G8 leading the way," he said. He said that a report released by the Commission in March called on developed countries to help finance 100 per cent multilateral and debt service cancellation for all countries that needed it. "We also recommended that debt cancellation should cover multilateral and bilateral debt and reduce debt stock and debt service by up to 100 per cent," he said. --More 2245 Local Time 1945 GMT
