THE CITY CIRCLE

While many people in the UK are angry that the poorest in our society are being made to pay for a reckless and irresponsible financial system, millions of people in the Third World have been experiencing economic injustice for decades.

Third World countries are servicing mountains of unjust and unpayable debts - the result of multiple economic crises. For every 1 of aid given to the Third World, 5 comes back in debt repayments. Yet the reckless lending goes on and the financial crises falls hardest on the poorest - those least responsible. 

Muslim countries are amongst the most indebted Third World countries. From Indonesia and Bangladesh to Lebanon and Morocco, ordinary people forego education and decent healthcare because of unpayable and unjust debts. 

Clearly charity is not enough. We must transform the economic structures that keep one half of the world living in poverty, while a small minority enjoy unprecedented wealth. It is time to Drop the Debt and ensure a more just form of finance. 

Nick Dearden is Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign. Nick developed his career in social change at radical charity War on Want, where for over seven years he developed and implemented national campaigns and policy positions on labour and national rights, including campaigning for justice for the people of Palestine. Nick moved to Amnesty International UK where he played a lead role in developing their new global priority campaign on poverty and economic, social and cultural rights. Since moving to lead Jubilee Debt Campaign in 2008, Nick has developed a new three-year strategy including playing a pivotal role in bringing together the Put People First civil society coalition in response to the UK's presidency of the G20, launching an already successful campaign to prohibit the activities of so-called Vulture Funds and reoriented the organisation from coalition to independent campaigning charity to better realise its mission of economic justice for developing countries. 

Samia Ahmed has been recently appointed as the Senior Development education Coordinator at Islamic Relief. Development Education focus on raising awareness on those issues related to poverty in the poorer countries as well as work with campaigners on issues related to poverty such as Debt, Climate Change and Fair trade. Previously Samia has had various Leadership and Management roles as well as experience of teaching Key stage 2 national curriculum subjects in an independent primary school. She has Masters in Islamic studies and is currently a trustee of an Islamic Educational charity as well as Governor for a local state school.