The child of Nyagai Jany, born when she was 17, is growing up in a country that has to spend 11 times more on debt service than on education. (Photo: Alissa Everett, UNICEF/EVERETT/SouthSudan)
Smart debt relief is needed in sub-Saharan Africa where 16 of the poorest governments were spending more on servicing debt than on all social sectors combined before Covid-19, write
Matthew Cummins and
Paul Quarles van Ufford.
While the global spotlight remains firmly fixed on the battle against Covid-19 in wealthy countries, the life and death challenges faced by populations in developing countries, especially children, have steadily worsened over the past 12 months, mainly in darkness and with only tokenistic support from global institutions.