Africans need their debts immediately forgiven and their children saved from slave labour, but G-8 leaders don't have the political will to make it happen, said speakers at yesterday's session of the G-6B conference.
The same plea for action came from the mouths of all speakers facilitating yesterday's workshops on trade, economy, health, social issues and First Nations.
Organizers said three of these speakers were hassled by customs officials while entering Canada and one was told he could be considered an enemy of the G-8 nations.
Despite those problems, activists say they spent a productive day discussing the future of Africa.
Mara Vanderslice, spokeswoman for an American group lobbying for debt relief, said many heads of state support forgiving African debts but are unwilling to make it happen immediately and without conditions.
Forgiving African debt would also save thousands of children from the clutches of slave labour, said Anita Sheth, an advocate for the Positive Chocolate campaign.
Devastating poverty is what pushes young Africans to work on Ivory Coast cocoa farms, Sheth added.
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