Civil society believes that any Multilateral Sovereign Debt Resolution Mechanism should follow 10 essential principles.

1. Creation of a multilateral debt resolution body, independent from creditors and debtors.
2. The process may be initiated by the borrower, and such request would constitute the implementation of an automatic debt payments standstill by all creditors.
3. Initiation of the process should trigger a stay on creditor litigation.
4. Comprehensive process, treating all of a country’s debt stock in a single process.
5. Inclusive participation of all stakeholders including citizen representation of debtor countries.
6. Independent assessment of debt sustainability and the validity of individual claims.
7. Focused on debt sustainability that puts needs of population and imperative of dealing with climate change and biodiversity loss before debt service.
8. Respect for international human rights law and the realisation of international development commitments.
9. Transparency: negotiations and their outcomes must be made public.
10. Enforceability of the debt restructuring, including debt cancellation, agreed in the process, to all creditors.

Agreement on these or other principles, including principles and parameters to be applied in the actual debt restructurings, will have to be discussed and agreed upon by the majority of member states. Some of the parameters for debt restructuring are currently being discussed at the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. However, a more inclusive and transparent discussion is necessary so all member states can input on an equal footing in defining and agreeing principles and parameters