In many instances, the richest fifth of the population receives, on average, twice as much support in health and education as the poorest fifth. As a result, a family's poverty is passed from generation to generation, and the same is so for a country's stalled development. It would give every child the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. The international community cannot wait until poverty is eliminated to invest in children. Investment in basic social services and early childhood care is a government's best strategy for eliminating impoverishment in its next generation.
Many countries spend more money on debt servicing than on basic social services.
In Tanzania, nearly 50 per cent of the budget goes to external debt and approximately 10 per cent to social services. With so little of Tanzania's budget available for education, it is unlikely that Febronia and Damas' children will finish primary school. Heavy national debt is stealing basic care from children. Changing debt liability to investment in children is key to ending poverty. Uganda, the first country to receive HIPC support, has led the way by using its debt dividend to expand primary education, enrolment and care for AIDS orphans.