However, the comprehensive debt relief program endorsed by the law requires coordinated action by all creditors if it is to work effectively for debtor countries and assure fair burden sharing among the creditors. This amount represents the cost to the United States of canceling the bilateral debt of 33 heavily indebted poor countries and the U.S. share of the multilateral debt reduction for these countries under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, as agreed to by G-7 creditor countries last June. Because of our country's delay in contributing to the multilateral HIPC Trust Fund, countries such as Bolivia are still waiting to benefit from new debt relief despite having met all of the requirements for the enhanced HIPC program. In Mozambique, where CRS is supporting a major relief program to assist the flood victims, the effort toward long-term reconstruction will be significantly hampered by the requirement for the government to continue servicing its debt. Mozambique is expected to qualify for relief, but is not likely to actually get relief unless there are adequate contributions to the HIPC Trust Fund.
Debt relief is one approach to reducing poverty in the poorest countries.
Key aspects of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process adopted by the World Bank and the IMF hold considerable promise for ensuring that new lending will benefit the poorest people. We are monitoring the implementation of the process at the international level. Even more importantly, we are supporting the efforts of the Catholic Church and other partners in countries such as Bolivia, Honduras, and Benin to participate in the process of developing a Poverty Reduction Strategy for these countries. Only through the involvement of citizens will the process be meaningful and will governments be held accountable for their commitments and management of financial resources. The United States should focus its attention on monitoring the implementation of the HIPC agreement and Poverty Reduction Strategy.