Judy Baker and Iwona Reichardt, June 2006
Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) now provide the basis for development policies in many low income countries and are intended to serve as a framework for better coordination of development assistance among development partners. The PRSs call for an increased focus on country driven strategies that involve broad based participation, a focus on results (specifically outcomes that benefit the poor), a comprehensive approach recognizing the multidimensional nature of poverty, broad partnerships involving coordination of all development partners, and a long-term vision for poverty reduction. The PRS approach has gained widespread support among the Bank's low-income members with approximately 51 countries having prepared national PRSs, several countries revising their original strategies, seven more countries having produced interim PRSs and several more which have initiated the process.
The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) generally have covered four broad areas: 1) an assessment of the nature, extent and dimensions of poverty; 2) identification of poverty reduction obejectives; 3) definition of the strategy for poverty reduction and growth, including the selection and prioritization of public actions; and 4) the design of a system to monitor and evaluate implementation of the strategy.
A major review of the PRS carried out by the World Bank and the IMF in 2005 points to the need for continued support for a country-driven development model, recognizing that this requires medium - to long-term commitment to institutional changes and capacity building. The review recommends viewing PRS implementation more explicity through an accountability lens and strengthening the PRS approach as a platform for scaling up assistance. Following on this, a review of how urban issues have been handled in the PRSs was undertaken in 2006 to identify lessons learned for better integrating urban development priorities in poverty reduction strategies. Section 2 clarifies the objective of the review and presents the methodology used to gather information, Section 3 reports the main findings, and Section 4 presents recommendations.
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