The debt crisis is now in its seventh year and the situation has worsened considerably. Debt burdens have become unsustainable in human terms in Sub-Saharan Africa and in political terms in Latin America. Various proposals have been mooted to resolve the crisis, the latest being the Brady Plan. How \"fair\" are these proposals to the debtors\'? How does one operationalise criteria such as equity and fairness? In addressing these questions this paper draws on an on-going research study commissioned by Trócaire entitled \"Towards an Equitable Solution to the Third World Debt Problem\".