Introduction
The PRSP approach is only four years old, but it has already stimulated much debate and some controversy. At one extreme, there are the rose-tinted optimists who present PRSPs as a panacea for poverty reduction, a 'magic bullet' capable of transforming in a very short space of time what were previously seen as intractable obstacles to poverty reduction. At the other extreme sit the conspiracy theorists who denounce PRSPs as 'more of the same' from the IFIs and other donors, representing continuing neglect of the structural obstacles to poverty reduction and unlikely to make the slightest difference to the rights of poor people.
This paper is located somewhere between these two camps in its attempt to give a basic overview of the PRS experience to date to help inform CARE's work. It recognises the significant potential inherent in an approach which was developed out of best practice on how to tackle poverty and points to preliminary evidence of progress made in countries that have begun to engage. However, it also acknowledges that much of the potential in PRSPs remains just that at present, and underlines the need for sustained engagement by civil society, governments and donors if their full potential is to be realised, and a real and lasting difference made to the lives of poor people.
It is important to note that the technical and political challenges the PRSP approach sets out to address are enormous in scale, fundamental in importance and far-reaching in their implications. It is therefore unrealistic to expect the initiative to produce immediate and measurable results in the way that a vaccination programme or a water project might. Although considerable informal literature exists about the PRS experience in the form of website material, NGO reports and synthesis papers, it has yet to be matched by extensive evidence-based research1, so this paper draws only tentative conclusions.
The paper is divided into four sections:
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The first traces the origins of the PRSP approach in evolving development debates and pressures on the development industry.
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The second outlines the technical basics of the approach including the PRS cycle, the content of the documents and the principles that should inform the process.
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The third examines some assumptions behind PRSPs including their political dimensions, their potential contribution to poverty reduction and some basic conditions required to meet this potential.
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The final section assesses key challenges and progress made to date.
Suggestions for further reading on different dimensions of the PRSP approach are provided throughout and at the end of paper, with hyperlinks to websites.
Footnote:
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The most substantive formal publication to date is Booth, D. (ed) (2003) "Fighting Poverty in Africa: Are PRSPs making a difference?" An 'Introduction and Overview' paper of the study on which the book is based is available online at
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