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Concept
Paper: Linking Poverty Reduction Strategies and Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) Multi stakeholder Consultative Workshop in Lusaka
Zambia, 8th – 9th June 2006
African
Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD)
June 07, 2006
Introduction
This document
outlines a concept, rationale and strategy for convening a regional workshop
on the macroeconomic policy options in sub-Saharan Africa: Linking Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The lack of policy
framework for MDG implementation and the continued use of Poverty Reduction
Strategies (PRSs) as the national framework for the implementation of
development programs in many severely indebted poor countries has raised
concerns that a precedent may have been set that could be critical to
undoing the support given to MDGs as an effective framework for galvanising
support around poverty reduction and partnership development among key
stakeholders in development. One of the key concerns being raised is whether
the current macro economic policy framework under which PRSPs are underpinned
are effective in contributing to the achievement of the MDGs.
AFRODAD plans to hold
a High Level Consultative Meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, on 8 – 9 June 2006.
This meeting will be open to a specific spectrum of civil society organisations;
government officials and the UNDP country representatives engaged in implementing
both PRSPs and MDGs.
2. Background and
Context
The relationship
between growth and poverty lies at the heart of development economics.
While many see aggregate growth as both necessary and sufficient for reducing
poverty, and consequently focus their efforts on achieving the desired
macroeconomic outcomes, others stress that the benefits from growth may
not be evenly spread. In fact, critics of globalization often point out
that growth of the macro economy may well have an adverse effect on the
most vulnerable members of society. Thus the distributional impact of
growth, as well as its level, needs to be taken into account when considering
the consequences for poverty.
The turn of the millennium
saw much activity related to establishing monitorable global benchmarks
for tackling poverty. At the 2000 UN Millennium Conference, all donor
and aid recipient governments agreed to tailor their future policies and
expenditure priorities to meet a set of development targets drawn from
key commitments made at high level UN thematic conferences during the
1990s. The donor community, including the multilateral agencies of the
UN, encouraged developing countries, especially low-income ones, to put
poverty reduction on top of their development agendas. This marked a myriad
of activities to streamline development initiatives to achieve the MDGs.
At the heart of this was the transformation of the PRSPs to be the main
instrument for meeting most of the MDG goals. Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers (PRSPs) have therefore become key instruments for national development
following their approval by the Bretton Woods Institutions as the new
framework for lending to poor countries.
The PRSPs could prove
crucial to translating MDGs into reality and thus be named "the roadmap"
to achieving the goals. As a principle, a national PRS has to be "developed
from an understanding of the determinants of poverty in a country and
the links between public actions and poverty outcomes" It also articulates
the national priorities through policies and programmes that will contribute
to poverty reduction for the achievement of the MDGs. PRS also serves
as the medium term strategy to compliment the long-term vision of the
MDGs, thus ideally the two should compliment each other by sharing a common
vision and objectives. Thus developing MDG based PRSPs would assist in
intensifying efforts to achieve the MDGs. Harmonising and aligning the
two to compliment each other would also ensure avoiding duplication of
efforts.
However, evidence
on the ground reveals contradictions on pursuing both programs simultaneously,
with governments and other stakeholders revealing that conditionalities
under-pinning the macro economic policy framework continue to hamper the
implementation of national MDG priority areas as needed on the ground.
This is further compounded by the short-term nature of the PRS programs.
PRSPs have a three-year lifespan after which they are reviewed and updated
on the basis of the annual evaluations. Donor funding for PRS programmes
has tended to be focused on these timeframes making it difficult to plan,
focus and budget resources beyond three years. The challenge of predicting
donor funding commitments and continuity after the three years only compounds
this problem when weighed against the long-term vision and financial requirements
of the MDGs. Thus effectively, the complimentary role of PRSPs to MDGs
is being undermined by the disjoint in the timeframes between the two.
Expanding the PRS cycle to align it with the long-term vision of the MDGs
would enhance the link between the two and increase their effectiveness.
3. Research
In response
to the lack of harmony in the two frameworks AFRODAD has commissioned
five country case studies in five African countries (Zambia, Ethiopia,
Mali, Senegal and Uganda) to help examine how PRSPs and MDGs are working
at national level as tools for development and poverty reduction. The
studies have sought to highlight how the various stakeholders have interacted
and shared ideas and resources at national level regarding the PRSPs and
MDGs. Furthermore, they have sought to show how governments and donors
have mobilized and allocated resources for the attainment of MDGs against
the background of having PRSPs as the tool of implementation.
4. Aims and Objectives
of Meeting
The main objective
of the consultative meeting is to explore the key challenges and policy
discrepancies surrounding the implementation of PRS which compromises
the achievement of MDGs at national levels. Specifically, the meeting
aims at the following:
- To develop an agenda
based on the research outcomes to influence the PRS/MDG harmonisation
process
- To deepen discussions
on how negative effects arising from the policy incoherence in the PRS-MDG
linkage can be minimised for increased pro-poor growth.
- To use the outcome
of the meeting for initiating dialogue with the Bank and Fund on the
issues of PRS/MDG harmonisation at the annual meeting of the BWI in
Singapore September 2006.
5. Process
Deliberations
at the consultation will be informed by research findings as well as expert
background paper presentations which will set out the context and relevant
agenda issues of both substance and process affecting the policy coherence
and harmonisation process of the MDG/PRS process. The research findings
and the background paper will be distributed well in advance before the
workshop.
6. Participation
Participation
in the consultation is open to African CSOs, African governments and key
UN country agencies. The convening organisations will arrange for the
participation of suitable background information or presentations to inform
the deliberations of the consultation.
7. Expected Outcomes
The participants
are expected to use the opportunity of the consultation to expose issues
of more direct relevance to their respective national situations or thematic
specialties.
The outcome of the
discussions will inform the synthesis report as adopted for presentation
to the Bretton Woods annual meeting side event.
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