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There are obvious linkages
between "poverty reduction strategies" and "national strategies
for sustainable development".
What
are PRSPs Key Principles and
features of PRSPs Background
material
What
are PRSPs?
The PRSP framework
focuses on identifying, in a participatory manner, the poverty reduction
outcomes a country wishes to achieve and the key public actions
or policy changes, institutional reforms and programs that are required
to achieve these desired outcomes.
This framework
is based on the experience of many countries, on cross-country analytical
work and on current best practice in development assistance, as
well as consultations with other international organizations and
NGO representatives. PRSPs have resulted from the global trend of
increasing poverty coupled with enhanced debt relief and a desire
on the part of donors/NGOs to strengthen the impact of programmes
on poverty.
PRSPs are also
the basis for IMF/Workd Bank debt relief and concessional assistance.
Initial efforts will focus on supporting the development of PRSPs
in countries expected to be eligible for assistance under the HIPC
Initiative. At the same time, the new approach will be introduced
in a phased manner in all low-income countries receiving concessional
assistance from the World Bank and the IMF.
Key
Principles and Features of PRSPs
The key principles
underlying the framework are that poverty reduction strategies should
be country-driven, oriented to achieving concrete results in terms
of poverty reduction, comprehensive in looking at cross-sectoral
determinants of poverty outcomes, informed by a long-term perspective,
and providing the context for action by various development partners.
PRSPs are:
- Prepared
by national governments
- Result of
a participatory process in each country
- Focussed
on improved and integrated country strategies
- Have a long-term
prespective, and
- Allow sector
strategies to be viewed from the perspective of poverty reduction
PRSPs are intended
to:
- Provide an
understanding of the features of poverty and the factors that
determine it
- Assist in
choosing actions at the policy level which have the greatest impact
- Identify
indicators of progress and the means to monitor them in participatory
ways
Three key steps
underlie the development of poverty reduction strategies:
1.
Understanding the nature and locus of poverty.
2. Choosing
public actions that have the highest poverty impact.
3. Selecting
and tracking outcome indicators.
Background
Material
Background material
and documentation are available on the World Bank web site (http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/strategies/index.htm).
Some of this material can also be accessed directly from this CD-ROM
mockup in Adobe Acrobat format (see below).
Building
Poverty Reduction Strategies in Developing Countries. (September
1999). This World Bank paper lays out the approach to the
development of strategies focused on poverty reduction.
   
Strengthening
the Link Between Debt Relief and Poverty Reduction. (September
1999). A World Bank-IMF paper that discusses how to strengthen the
link between the granting of debt relief and the achievement of
poverty reduction objectives.
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