Rules of the plan require that countries put the saved money into development programs, with an emphasis on education and health, and work with the IMF and World Bank on refining economic policies. Countries that channel saved money to non-approved purposes would risk being thrown out of the program. The program grew in part from a campaign by a diverse coalition that has united Pope John Paul II, the relief group Oxfam, the Anglican church, the rock star Bono and others. Its members argue that the companies cannot begin to alleviate catastrophic social ills if billions of dollars must go to banks in wealthy countries. We're talking about places where people are dying because there's no health facility available, because life expectancy is down, because HIV is the worse epidemic since the bubonic plague.
Many groups view the program that resulted as too small.
Groups also have objected to the continued role of the IMF, which they see as an army of accountants that doesn't have human needs at heart. But many in the coalition support the plan as the best there is for now. It will mean more children in school and better health care in some of the poorest countries in the world. Broad outlines of the plan, which focuses on loans by government banks, not private institutions, were approved in June during a summit of the industrial world's leaders in Cologne. After that, haggling began as to which nation will pay to clear the debts from lenders' books.