The debt of developing countries refers to the external debt which is incurred by their governments, typically in amounts beyond their governments' ability to repay. Therefore there have been ongoing calls for lifting this burden of debt, with significant debt cancellation having been granted in 2006.However, it is not merely a matter of lifting the burden of the debt which poor nations have towards the rich. I argue here that the rich nations have a debt towards the poor, on the basis of the disastrous effects of those activities which have made them rich. The subject is vast, and the debate is obscured by many factors. I begin therefore with a description of my personal experience, which reflects the overriding concern of my own Pacific nation.
Casting my mind back over many years, the palm trees where I once played and climbed as a child have gone. What little fresh water there was is now contaminated by salt. There is no rain, and all the low lying land is being washed away. With a lack of fresh water, our children suffer from dysentery. The graveyards of our relatives are being swallowed up by the sea. For the old people this is very hard. Our culture and our history is being washed away.
It is a story which may be told in many different forms, in many different places. Life is degraded through the so-called progress of humanity, and those on the receiving end find themselves helpless.
As the world merges into the technological age, what future is there for the powerless, innocent people struggling to get on with life? Whom shall we blame, and would the perpetrator accept their being blamed? Or is blame even necessary to motivate compassion? Parliamentarians speak easily of justice, peace, security, and a higher standard of living in their campaigns. Is it bringing justice to the lowly and powerless who have no say? Everything in this world is a race to be seen, and be ranked at the top of all human powers.
Why do developed, rich countries give aid to developing countries, yet fail to make the changes which matter most?
Are there any lessons we can draw from traditional Christian teachings? When Jesus came to the world, He brought justice with a new set of rules. Love one another as you love yourself—a new commandment not only for the individual, but to level everyone on the hierarchy of standards, and to bring peace within the world nations. Many of the global countries profess to be Christian countries, whether through heritage or through living faith. Why not use the new commandment of Christ, and care for our helplessness on washed out islands during these times?
The people of Kiribati, who are at the top of the list of nations endangered by global developments, cry for the world to have compassion, and to think of us, a Third World struggling nation who have no say, and have no power to protect ourselves from the side-effects of the technological age. The fact that our government needed at all to beg the larger countries at Copenhagen shows the ignorance of the world with regard to their tiny younger brother begging for help in times of need.
A cry for justice may be scoffed at with ignorance, as our cry would hold back bigger countries in their race for the most powerful position. Our cry is a mere bump on the road for them, but we pray to our loving heavenly Father that someone will emerge with a plan, to convince our big brother nations to help and stand by us this time.
We call for nations not merely to think in terms of others’ debt towards them, or the neutralisation of that debt, but to think of their own debt towards others. I conclude by quoting the preamble of a statement by the Australian Uniting Church on Human Rights:
‘We believe that God has given humanity gifts and skills for the benefit of the earth and humanity itself. These gifts include the capacity for love, compassion, wisdom, generosity, and moral choice. They come with the responsibility to ensure the health and wellbeing of present and future generations and the earth.’
* Tioti Timon is a bishop in the Kiribati Uniting Church.
