Abstract
In August 2005, the G8 decided to cancel the multilateral debt of 18 countries which are part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, in Uganda. This Initiative was launched by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) in 1996 in order to reduce the debt burden of numerous Third World countries. In 2000, it was enhanced (HIPC II) to make debt relief broader, deeper and faster. The Initiative has three aims: make the countries' debt "sustainable", bring long-term economic growth, and reduce poverty. Under the pressure of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), this last point was underlined in the design of HIPC II: from then on, every applicant country has to prepare a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
