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Zambian President Urges Western Countries to Cancel Debts
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba Saturday called on Western countries to cancel debts owed to them by developing countries.
Addressing at the State House when he commemorated the Day of the African Child, Chiluba said the Western world should instead concentrate on working in partnership with the developing countries especially those in Africa.
He said Western countries should forget about the debt, which African countries owed them.
The president told about 30 children drawn from all the provinces of Zambia that the government was committed to solving the problems children face like child labor, early marriages and poverty.
Chiluba also said it was not wise for a nation to entirely depend on donors because this does not lead to development.
He said he was against sympathy from donors because this does not make the developing countries strong.
He said asking for charity was not good for the integrity and sovereignty of a country.
Chiluba told the gathering of the children that they should not grow up thinking that donations were good.
The president said the government was now in a better position to solve the problems of children because the Zambian economy had started showing signs of growing.
The president also reiterated the government's commitment to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
He said the setting up of the National HIV/AIDS council was one of the good examples of the government's commitment to fighting the disease.
And the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) country representative Stella Goings said children must be put first in all accounts because they are the future generation.
She said her organization was committed to fighting all forms of abuses against the children of the world.
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