Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers

• They are country-driven, involving broad-based participation by civil society and the private sector as they are produced.
• They are directed toward achieving results and focused on outcomes that would benefit the poor.
• They recognize that tackling poverty requires a comprehensive approach because poverty is more than just a lack of income but that poor people also suffer from a lack of opportunity, security, and voice in decisions that affect their lives.
• They are partnership-oriented in that they encourage the coordinated involvement of bi-lateral, multilateral and non-government organizations in the country's poverty reduction program.
• They are based on a long-term perspective for poverty reduction. PRSPs foster greater openness in policymaking. Governments have sought increasingly to include traditionally marginalized groups, the private sector and civil society in developing them and because of this, poverty-reduction strategies developed through this process tend to have broader community and stakeholder support and are "owned" by the government.

Since late 1999, 30 low-income countries have completed full PRSPs, 47 have prepared interim strategies, and 11 have reported on annual progress in implementation. Countries have used PRSPs to address their investment climate and prescribe measures to foster private sector development, and to chart plans to improve governance and reduce corruption. Many concentrate on issues facing the agricultural sector and rural areas, and stress the need for investment in key basic services, particularly health and education in implementing their strategies.

The World Bank provides training, technical and financial assistance to support designing and implementing national poverty-reduction strategies by strengthening governance and legal and judicial institutions, and by helping countries expand and deepen participatory processes in such areas as poverty analysis, public expenditure management, and service evaluation. In particular, it offers Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs), annual programmatic structural adjustment loans, to support implementation of country poverty reduction strategies. These credits come with clear performance benchmarks, including results indicators and policy measures.

More Information

• Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers website
• Specific Countries' PRSP Timelines
• The PRSP Sourcebook, a guide designed to assist countries in the development of poverty reduction strategies.