spend this decade debating it while the economies of manv developing countries stagnate or decline. Debt continues to be a major obstacle to grC711th. During the 1980s, developing countries found themselves transferring massive amounts of financial resources to the developed countries, resources which should have otherwise been invested locally in much-needed services and capital infrastructure. In manv instances, questions about the long-term credit-worthiness and solvency of such countries deter lending, discourage direct foreign investment and lead to capital flight in the very countries which desperately need new financial resources to sustain growth and to implement development plans. The actions of developed creditor countries towards the end of the last decade would suggest a growing acceptance of the need to lessen the debt burden of developing countries. The efforts of the Group of Seven at Toronto in 1988, the Bradv Plan, and a number of individual initiatives by some creditor countries deserve mention. The initiative of the Canadian Government last March in writing off a debt of C$182 million owed bv sister Comnnnwealth Carbbean countries is laudable. This will bring a measure of relief to Caribbean Governments, which still have to face the 1990s dealing with their debt problems. BHS/qa A/S-18/PV. 6 160 (Mr. Moultrie, Bahamas) However, too often debt-relief packages come wrapped with bitter prescription pills of structural adjustments. Governments are forced to make cuts in expenditures. Areas affected include employment, food, housinq, education, health and welfare services, resultinq in an erosion of the development qains of previous decades. It is the most disadvantaqed and vulnerable qroups -trn poor, women, 'children and the aqed- who inevitably suffer as a result of the decline in their standard of livinq. In an aqe of plenty, where technoloqical advancement increases the potential for imProvinq human life, it is morally reprehensible and an 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the issue of debt and its impact on developing countries, highlighting the need for debt relief and the consequences of structural adjustments. The author emphasizes the human cost of debt, particularly for vulnerable groups such as the poor, women, children, and the aged. The text also mentions specific initiatives and policies aimed at addressing the debt burden. Based on this analysis, I hypothesize that the text is most closely related to the themes of economic development, employment, and humanitarian aid and relief.

**Category**
Economic development, Employment, Humanitarian aid and relief