| April 4-6, 2006, Vientiane, Lao PDR |  |
Before the introduction of the PRSP process, governments in East Asia typically elaborated national plans. These plans, however, were often considered insufficient to serve as a basis for support by donors. Five years ago, the PRSP initiative was launched by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, generally in parallel to national plans. PRSPs have since provided a basis for donor support and coordination. However, these poverty reduction strategies are sometimes seen as onerous by governments, which have not seen them as sufficient for their own planning purposes. The aim of this forum is to help governments and donors move to a third level where the principles associated with PRSPs are embedded in national plans and budgets to produce a document and process which can be supported by donors andis fully owned by governments.
The five-year experience with PRSPs has helped in identifying the core principles of a successful poverty reduction strategy and process. Four of these principles are: - Broad participation and transparency in formulating and implementing development strategies;
- Strong poverty focus in prioritizing and implementing policies associated with these strategies;
- Results-orientation, rigorous monitoring of results and tighter feedback to policymaking; and
- Alignment of aid, cycles and reporting mechanisms to national priorities, time-tables and domestic processes respectively and harmonization of conditionalities
‘Mainstreaming’ of the PRSP initiative should be seen as the adoption of these core principles even if the PRSP is no longer a self-standing document. This will typically entail fusing the PRS and national planning processes and streamlining monitoring and reporting procedures. The main challenge in effectively mainstreaming the PRS process is to ensure that the core principles that have led to improved plans, budgets, and policies are preserved and continue to be strengthened. If the challenge is met, countries in the region will produce and implement stronger government-owned plans that can be a sufficient basis for the alignment of donor support—hence incorporating the best characteristics of both plans and PRSPs. Streamlined reporting procedures and alignment of donor cycles around country-specific timetables should also contribute to reducing the transaction costs of aid for recipient countries.
Objectives,
The proposed forum aims to exchange experiences on plan and PRSP implementation and build consensus among governments and donors in the region regarding the critical attributes of:
- National plans that can function as poverty reduction strategies and merit donor support;
- Progress reports that efficiently monitor progress in translating these plans into results; and
- Donor support that is aligned with country priorities and with country-specific processes and timetables.
In particular, the forum will have two objectives: First, exchange experiences with formulating and implementing national plans and poverty reduction strategies among the six countries of the region which have participated in the PRSP initiative - Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam - as well as the experiences in formulating national plans in China and Thailand. Second, agree on principles and discuss steps to be taken by governments to make the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of national plans, budgets, and sector strategies more participatory, poverty-focused, and results-oriented, and on what development agencies need to do to support these plans and processes.
Themes and Structure
Day one would be devoted to the exchange of experiences among forum participants in each of the forum’s four thematic areas. To achieve this result, representatives from participating countries will be asked to share their experience in one or several of these areas (please see the program below). Our country teams will coordinate with country delegations to arrive at a joint decision on which areas of experience to share from each country. Short power-point presentations would be sought from forum participants and sessions would be run as workshops. Two parallel sessions would be held for each principle/thematic area focusing on the two sub-themes identified. Participants would self-select into the sessions.
During the second day, we would hold four sessions—one on each of the four core principles listed above. Each of these sessions would consist of a roundtable at which each country delegation has two seats and each development agency has one seat. Each roundtable would begin with short prepared presentations by two country delegations and two donor agencies would present comments—the proposed selection of the country delegation presenters is summarized in Table 1. The others at the round table would then present their viewpoints. Following a general discussion among those at and around the roundtable, the chair would present the main conclusions of the session. A background brief for the forum elaborates on these themes.
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Each country delegation and donor agency would be requested to prepare a short background brief (10-15 pages) on the PRSP-Plan issues of importance for the country/agency for discussion during the second day of the forum. A country delegation brief would outline the critical requirements of national plans and related implementation policies and assistance strategies that incorporate PRS principles. It would also propose indicators to track progress in the respective thematic area. Each government would be requested to cover each one of the four above-mentioned principles, but, for the sake of efficiency, only two governments would present in each session (as per Table 1 above). Development agencies are also invited to draft briefs on each one of the first three principles summarizing what aspects of national plans and related implementation policies they deem as critical in determining their development assistance. Their briefs would also cover the fourth principle, outlining the critical elements of assistance strategies that are aligned with country priorities and with country-specific processes and timetables.
Venue, Date, and Participants
The forum is being designed and organized collaboratively by the IMF, ADB, UNDP and the World Bank. This note is intended to help start the consultations among the various stakeholders.
The proposed date and venue for the forum is Vientiane, Lao PDR on April 4-6 (Tuesday evening through Thursday), 2006. It is proposed that the forum include around 100 representatives from:
- Governments in EAP. This would include: a) budget and planning departments of the ministries of planning and finance; b) key line ministries; and c) statistical offices, and monitoring and evaluation units. (50)
- Civil society in EAP. This would include mainly: a) non-governmental organizations (local and international); and b) research centers. (15)
- Principal development agencies. Main donors involved in the PRSP process in the region (UNDP, ADB, European Commission, Japan, AusAid, France, DfID). (15)
- Other governments. Representatives of selected governments in East Asia—China, Thailand and Philippines—with lessons to offer in formulating poverty-focused national plans. (3)
- World Bank and IMF. Selected staff involved in PRSP issues in East Asia. (15)
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