The world’s attention is focused on Haiti following the devastating earthquake. World leaders are pledging to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Haitian people and help them to build a brighter future out of the rubble.
However, the debts that Haiti owes will hamper efforts to rebuild the country and lock them in poverty for years to come. Haiti currently owes over $891 million in debt. If these debts aren't cancelled, Haiti will be sending tens of millions to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international bodies even as it struggles to rescue and rebuild.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world and yet the IMF's response to the earthquake was to offer a $100 million loan. This loan would increase Haiti’s debt burden at this time of crisis. Please e-mail the head of the IMF Dominique Strauss-Kahn to demand that when leaders meet on Monday, they cancel Haiti’s debts immediately. The IMF has said that it will work to cancel the debt, and this now needs to happen.
An album of Friday's telethon performances is available on iTunes, allowing people to keep giving to the cause. You can also simply donate to Hope for Haiti Now by visiting the Hope For Haiti Now website. The two-hour telethon is believed to have raised around $57 million, according to organizers, with money still coming in. The event certainly echoes the scope of efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 1985's Live Aid telethon, which raised millions for Africa. It is estimated that the earthquake, which hit Haiti on Jan. 12, took the lives of as many as 200,000 people and left countless others homeless and separated from their loved ones.
Here's Anchorman at Coldplay.com with full details of the iTunes availability:
Good morning. The audio recordings from Friday night's Hope For Haiti Now TV special - which featured Coldplay's gorgeous performance of The Message 2010 and Chris playing piano for Beyoncé - are now available to download from iTunes stores around the world. Click here to download them - either as the entire album (for £5.99 / $7.99 / €6.99) or to buy the individual tracks (£0.79 / $0.99 €0.99). The video of the two hour TV special is also available to download in full from the US iTunes store, for just $2.99. Click here to get that. The full proceeds from purchases will go towards the Haiti emergency effort. Thanks folks.
Coldplay play at the London studios of the 'Help For Haiti Now' telethon (22nd January 2010):
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