INFLUENCING POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES: A GUIDE

Oxfam Publication


Extract:

International Development Goals

++Poverty The proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries and the proportion of malnourished children should be reduced by at least one half between 1990 and 2015.

++Education There should be Universal Primary Education (UPE) in all countries by 2015.

++Gender Equality Progress toward gender equality and the empowerment of women should be demonstrated by eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005.

++Infant and Child Mortality The death rates of infants and children under the age of five years should be reduced in each developing country by two-thirds the 1990 level by 2015.

++Maternal Mortality The rate of maternal mortality should be reduced by three- fourths between 1990 and 2015.

++Reproductive Health Access should be available through the primary health care system to reproductive health services for all individuals of appropriate ages and the spread of HIV/AIDS should have begun to be reversed, no later than the year 2015.

++Environment There should be a national strategy for sustainable development, in the process of implementation, in every country by 2005, so as to ensure that current trends in the loss of environmental resources are effectively reversed at both global and national levels by 2015. The proportion of the population without access to an improved water source should be reduced by at least one-half between 1990 and 2015.


The PRSP provides a framework to prioritise poverty reduction in the policy of all low-income countries. In government, but also IFI, and donor, policy and programming – and in all areas, from setting poverty reduction targets, to macro-economic and structural reform, the issue of pro-poor growth and redistribution, budgets, gender equity, to social sector provision, agriculture, industry, poverty monitoring and governance. The PRSP also requires the development of greater efficiency, transparency and accountability in public expenditure management (PEM). The focus is on targeted and costed policies, and as such on implementation and measurable impact. Prioritisation of the budget, public spending and monitoring, and efficiency of spending are all important areas highlighted in the PRSP approach. As such the PRSP offers Oxfam and other NGOs major opportunities to influence policy and practice at local, national and international levels, both at the formulation and the implementation stages.

Oxfam’s view is that poor women and men have a ‘right to be heard’ and that ‘voice poverty’, the denial of people’s right to influence the decisions that affect their lives, and the lack of accountability of decision-makers, are central causes of impoverishment and suffering in the world. We have three central concerns:

Where people living in poverty are systematically excluded from institutions, decision-making processes, and resource allocation decisions, they are less likely to benefit from development investments.

Systematic denial of people’s right to participate erodes the accountability and effectiveness of organisations, institutions, companies, and governments, making these much more prone to poor decision-making, and the corruption, malpractice and malfeasance that exacerbate poverty.

The exclusion of women and marginalised groups from policy making leads to an imbalanced perspective on development priorities, and to exclusion from the benefits of development for significant sectors of the population.

The World Bank also highlights ‘voicelessness and powerlessness’ as one of the four main dimensions of poverty, as defined by the poor themselves: ‘those materially deprived feel acutely their lack of voice, power and independence. This helplessness subjects them to rudeness, humiliation, shame, inhumane treatment, and exploitation at the hands of the institutions of state and society’.

This lack of voice can only be countered by empowering the poor women and men to participate and become involved in influencing the structures and institutions that have power over them.

The World Bank defines participation as “The process through which stakeholders influence and share control over priority setting, policy-making, resource allocations and access to public goods and services.”

It also notes that PRSPs should: “Be developed transparently with broad participation of elected institutions, stakeholders including civil society, key donors and regional development banks.