Belgian Poverty Reduction Partnership (BPRP)

The Belgian Poverty Reduction Partnership (BPRP) is a trust fund Managed by the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) in the Sub-Saharan Africa Vice Presidency at The World Bank. Funding is provided by Belgium’s Development Cooperation Agency (DGCD). The objective of the BPRP is to conduct analytical and capacity building work in order to support countries in their efforts to prepare and implement Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSPs). The main partner countries benefiting from BPRP activities are Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Niger, Mozambique, and Rwanda. Part of the funds are also used for sub-regional activities (including work in countries in the priority list of the Belgian cooperation that are not part of the seven countries targeted by the trust fund), as long as these activities closely relate to the preparation and implementation of PRSPs.

A strategic framework for the activities carried with support of the BPRP was agreed upon in April 2004, on the occasion of the annual consultation with the Belgian development cooperation agency. It was decided to focus BPRP programs and activities around the following three priorities:

1. Scaling-up analytical work in partner countries in order to improve poverty diagnostics, conduct poverty and social impact analysis of major reforms and policies (PSIA), and reinforce the links between the PRSPs and the budget, including work on Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks within the context of the Millennium Development Goals.
2. Scaling-up of capacity building initiatives for Government staff and Ministries, and to some extent also for other stakeholders, with again a focus on poverty diagnostic work, PSIAs, and the analysis of the links between PRSPs and the budget.
3. Facilitating a close collaboration on the ground between the World Bank and the Government PRSP units in partner countries through the presence of field-based poverty economists hired by the World Bank and funded the BPPR.