1. Why were these countries chosen for inclusion in the bill?
Initially, Jubilee USA Network had a longer list of countries that need debt cancellation, but Congressional sponsors requested that some be removed. Some countries that are heavily indebted poor countries are not on the list — Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone and Burma — for conflict and human rights reasons. Some countries that Jubilee would support debt cancellation for were not included because their debts are too large, and there was concern that it would not be affordable for their debts to be fully cancelled. Jubilee will work to achieve debt cancellation for those countries not included in the bill through other means and possibly in future legislation.

2. Aren't some of these countries middle-income countries?
Some of the countries included are often thought of as middle income countries, even though they have large segments of their population that are severely impoverished. The additional countries were included for at least one (in some case all) of the following reasons:

• They are countries with odious debt. These are countries where people oppressed by irresponsible lending are paying back a debt for their own oppression. This is especially true for South Africa, Philippines, some of the Southern African nations, Haiti and Peru.
• They are countries with a heavy burden of AIDS – where debt cancellation would provide life-saving resources that are needed urgently. This is especially true for Botswana, Namibia and Nigeria, for example.
• They are countries where debt has had a severe impact on their economies and have actively inhibited their ability to develop, like Jamaica and Bangladesh.

3. Are there any conditions to ensure that the funds go to poverty reduction?
While in the legislation there is not a direct tie between funds and poverty reduction, there is the provision that governments should spend 20 percent of their budgets on social services and development in accordance with the UN 20/20 initiative.

Debt relief granted so far has been highly effective and in many cases countries have that have received debt cancellation have developed joint civil society-government processes to ensure the funds are used for the benefit of the majority.

Thus far we have seen that countries have received debt relief have seen significant increases in spending on health and education, and no increases in military or for other purposes.

Though many of these mechanisms are already in place in impoverished countries to ensure that funding is allocated properly, Jubilee will continue to work closely with civil society partners in the Global South to ensure transparency and use of proceeds from debt relief for social needs.