Despite modest reductions in poverty in recent decades, progress has been less than hoped, especially in low income countries. This disappointment has led to a critical examination of what policies best promote economic growth and reduce poverty in low income countries, and a realization that the delivery of external support should be changed. In particular, development practitioners have raised concerns about the level of financial resources dedicated to reducing poverty and the ways in which aid, including assistance from the World Bank and IMF, and debt relief have been delivered. The old model of a technocratic government supported by donors is seen as incomplete. Most development practitioners now believe that aid and policy effectiveness depend on the input of a whole range of agents—including the private sector and civil society—as well as on the healthy functioning of societal and institutional structures within which they operate. While poor performance in reducing poverty has many causes, analysts agree that action is needed on both the domestic policy and external assistance fronts. This raises two sets of issues: - How to identify effective strategies to reduce poverty; and
- How to modify external partnerships and assistance to reduce poverty more effectively.
National poverty reduction strategies can improve the poverty impact of expenditures financed by external partners and the effectiveness of technical advice by increasing country ownership and shifting policy to a more results-oriented approach. This approach is based on the principles of the Comprehensive Development Framework and will be guided by the Bank’s forthcoming World Development Report. Recent papers1presented to the Executive Boards of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund propose an enhanced framework for poverty reduction in low-income countries. The Interim and Development Committees have strongly endorsed this approach. The objective is to encourage low-income countries to reduce poverty by focusing on a renewed growth-oriented strategy. This approach has been formally adopted for World Bank and IMF concessional lending, but it is intended to engage all development partners--indeed its success will depend on that. Enhanced poverty reduction efforts will build upon existing country processes and will be tailored to individual country circumstances. The process of preparing and implementing PRSs will take time, and will involve learning by doing. The purpose of the Sourcebook is to provide guidance and analytical tools to countries and country teams developing poverty reduction strategies. It is a collection of broad policy guidelines, examples of international best practice, and technical notes for the more technically oriented readers. As elaborated below, it is not intended to be prescriptive, nor does it indeed provide "the answers."
1. See http://povlibrary.worldbank.org/prsp/and www.imf.org/external/np/pdr/prsp/poverty2.htmincluding: Strengthening the Link Between Debt Relief and Poverty Reduction (WB/IMF, Sept. 1999); Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Status and Next Steps (WB/IMF, Oct. 1999), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Operational Issues (WB, Dec. 1999); Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: World Bank Internal Guidance Note (WB, Jan. 2000); Building Poverty Reduction Strategies in Developing Countries (WB, Sept. 1999); and The Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)—Operational issues (IMF, Dec. 1999). Back to PRSP Sourcebook |
RSS