Following years of campaigning for global debt justice, CAFOD welcomes Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s recognition in his speech in Bangkok yesterday of the devastating impact the global debt crisis is having on some of the world’s poorest countries, undermining investments in healthcare, education and climate resilience.
Throughout last year’s Jubilee campaign and beyond, thousands of Catholics in churches across England and Wales joined with CAFOD to call for debt justice and a fairer global financial system.
As the UK prepares to take on the G20 Presidency, the government has a unique opportunity to deliver a fair and sustainable solution to the global debt crisis, ensuring countries can invest in their people and build resilience to future challenges.
CAFOD CEO Christine Allen said:
“The UK must seize the opportunity of hosting the G20 to fix the broken global debt system. This means reforming the Common Framework and wider debt restructuring processes to deliver fairer, faster and more effective debt relief. It also means introducing UK legislation to stop private creditors from blocking debt relief efforts and ensuring they participate in negotiations.”
For more information or interview requests, please contact:
Rosalind Mayfield, CAFOD Media Lead
Melissa Nethersole, CAFOD Media Officer
CAFOD’s out-of-hours media line
CAFOD is the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and part of Caritas Internationalis, working with communities across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America to fight poverty and injustice, including those worst hit by climate change. The agency works with people in need, regardless of race, gender, religion or nationality.
CAFOD is funded mainly by voluntary donations from people in the Catholic community of England and Wales. We also receive funding from fellow Catholic charities and development agencies, the DEC, trusts and foundations, and the UK and other governments.
We are calling on the UK government to do two urgent things in 2026 to address the global debt crisis:
Pass legislation to ensure private lenders can no longer make huge profits from countries struggling with unsustainable debts
Use the UK's presidency of the G20 in 2027 to fix the global debt system.
