Debt Relief and the MDGs

By Nancy Birdsall and Milan VaishnavThis note links the relevance of debt relief to one of the great challenges of our time: achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This is not a new point. Many have written, quite eloquently, on the importance of debt relief for the world’s poorest countries as a way to reduce poverty, end hunger, and improve health and education prospects for the world’s poorest people. In this note we emphasize the contribution that a more predictable, longer-term trajectory of debt relief could make for the poorest countries’ potential to achieve the MDGs.Access the full commentary (PDF)