MORE INFORMATION ABOUT Poverty Reduction Strategies
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Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) are three-year, rolling plans that the World Bank and IMF require of countries like Tanzania seeking to access concessional loans and receive debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative. Simply put, the PRSP explains how Government intends to use its money (particularly that freed up from debt-cancellation) to improve the lives of poor people.
Launched
by the World Bank and IMF in September 1999, PRSPs replace the Policy Framework
Papers (PFPs) previously demanded of the world’s poorest countries.
PRSPs are intended to:
Ensure that macroeconomic, structural and social reforms are coherent and poverty-focused
Be formulated through a government led process involving civil society
Provide a means for coordinating World Bank and IMF assistance. Ultimately, it is envisaged that PRSPs will become the country-specific strategies around which all donors plan and coordinate their development activities.
Seen in this light, PRSPs are indispensable to Tanzania’s short-term economic health. Yet, due to their pragmatic content and unique emphasis on participatory policymaking, PRSPs can be much, much more. Indeed, in coming years, they are likely to become one of Government’s top tools for working with others and coordinating effective plans to fight mass poverty.
This outcome is far from certain since putting PRSPs into practice will require many changes in conventional development planning and assistance. For example:
Donors – including the World Bank and IMF – will have to loosen control of the policy agenda and become more cooperative in relation to the Government of Tanzania and each other
Government policymaking processes will have to become more inclusive and transparent so that local government officials and representatives from civil society and the private sector can participate in shaping Poverty Reduction Strategies
Civil Society will have to quickly adapt if it is to take advantage of new opportunities and responsibilities to influence pro-poor public policies
For more information about the Tanzania Poverty Reduction Strategy, click on the following:
For more information about Poverty Reduction Strategies in general, click on the following: