FARNHAM supporters of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, will soon be off to Genoa for the next international summit of the world's richest nations.

This will be the third summit for local campaigners, who attended previous meetings in Birmingham and Cologne.

Local representative, Ian Allan (60) is keen to raise awareness for the campaign that seeks to rid some of the poorest countries in the world of their debts.

It is estimated that these mainly African countries owe almost 350 billion dollars and their debt repayment far outnumbers the amount being spent on health care, even when many of them are facing the crisis of HIV and AIDS.

Mr Allen was one of 15 local supporters who attended the breakthrough summit in Cologne. It was here that the wealthiest countires in the world promised to cancel alldebts.

However the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank's refusal to drop their debts made it only a partial success, and the campaign is now directed towards these institutions.

Mr Allen will be travelling to Genoa with fellow campaigners Chris and Janet Shot.

He stressed the continued support of Farnham's churches in "spearheading" the local campaign and urged other people in Farnham to come to the summit in Genoa.

The summit takes place in July and is expected to last a week.