Participation

To date, participatory processes in developing countries have tended to take place at the microeconomic or project level and have become increasingly innovative as methods become more established and sophisticated. However, to achieve participatory outcomes at the macroeconomic level, it is necessary to use participatory approaches at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels in a complementary manner for maximum effect. These approaches entail several elements, namely:

• an outcome-oriented participation action plan,
• a public information strategy, and
• multistakeholder institutional arrangements for governance, as described below.

Participatory processes in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), including information dissemination, dialogue, collaboration in implementing programs, and participatory monitoring and evaluation, are most effective when they are designed to be outcome-oriented. The ultimate outcome of a PRSP is not the paper but public and community actions to reduce poverty. Therefore, in planning a participatory process, it is important to keep in mind that the outcome-based approaches that are initiated and the institutional arrangements that support them can have an enduring influence over policymaking and implementation.

Outcome-based approaches to participation at the macroeconomic level should provide policymakers with concrete inputs into their decisionmaking and policy implementation. Open-ended participatory processes risk resulting in generalities and vague recommendations and may not lead to direct influence over antipoverty policies. In contrast, outcome-based approaches allow participation to be planned in such a way that all stakeholders feel included, gain ownership, and can influence the process. Furthermore, they allow participation to be based on the content of the PRSP and on specific issues that immediately affect each group of stakeholders.

Outcome-based approaches to poverty reduction look beyond the PRSP itself to actually implementing poverty reduction policies and monitoring their poverty-reducing impact. They promote a long-term view of the PRSP process, but can also be used to monitor short-term outputs.

This chapter offers a range of options for how participatory processes can be designed to yield specific poverty-reducing outcomes. There is no blueprint for participation, especially at the macroeconomic level. On the contrary, there are a variety of choices given a country’s particular context, its starting point, what is considered feasible in that country and what outcomes it hopes to achieve. This chapter is a learning tool for participatory processes in PRSs, offering good practice examples from diverse contexts.

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