|
Introduction
- The development of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process and the ILO’s
role since its inception has been regularly reported to the Committee. A progress report on
the ILO experience in the five pilot or special focus PRSP countries (Cambodia, Honduras,
Mali, Nepal and the United Republic of Tanzania), which have been selected in
collaboration with the World Bank and the IMF for a special effort to demonstrate the role
of decent work in poverty reduction strategies, was provided to the Committee in
November 2001.1 A further, more detailed assessment of the ILO’s
PRSP experience, with a focus on two countries was requested by the Committee for discussion at the March 2002
Session of the Governing Body2 but time constraints meant that it was postponed to the
November 2002 session. The present paper provides a revision and update of the March
paper.
-
The background to PRSPs is outlined below, followed by a discussion of the value added
of the ILO and its social partners in contributing to PRSPs and helping low-income
countries to design and implement them. The next section focuses on the practical steps
taken by the ILO to integrate decent work into poverty reduction strategies (PRS) and to
empower the ILO’s social partners to influence the process, focused on the experience over
the past two years in the five special focus PRSP countries, with a particular emphasis on
two of them.3 The paper concludes with a summary of key lessons learnt and a description
of the challenges as the overall PRSP process moves from focus on design to a greater
emphasis on implementation.
Footnotes:
- GB.282/ESP/3, paras. 9-20 and Appendix I.
- GB./282/9 and Add., para.77.
- Funding for these activities has come from the United Kingdom Department for International
Development. Funding from the Government of the Netherlands has contributed to related work on
capacity building for effective social dialogue in PRSPs.
|
|