Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt

The UNCTAD UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development This was established in 1964, after pressure from the developing countries, to offset the GATT effects.

Sixth Inter regional Debt Management Conference was held from 19 to 21 November 2007 in Geneva. Oscar Ugarteche, among others civil society representatives, participated in that conference. His paper, entitled “Ethics and Debt: A view from the International Debtor side”, stated that “it is time to evaluate some elements of what can go wrong in the lending and in the borrowing process and especially, how these can be addressed in the future”.

Background

The Inter regional Debt Management Conference, organized every two years by UNCTAD, provides a regular forum for sharing experiences and exchanging views between governments, international organizations, academia and non-governmental organizations on current developments and issues in both external and domestic debt and debt management.

This year, the Conference addressed the following issues:
* Odious debt
* Conditionality and the continued relevance of concessional borrowing
* Orderly restructuring of sovereign debt Sovereign debt Government debts or debts guaranteed by the government.
* The case for further relief
* Contingent liabilities Liabilities The part of the balance-sheet that comprises the resources available to a company (equity provided by the partners, provisions for risks and charges, debts).
* The formulation of effective debt strategies

Read Ugarteche’s presentation (pdf format)