http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/586120325

Poverty reduction strategy papers : failing minorities and indigenous peoples

When they were first introduced more than a decade ago, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) were roundly welcomed. However, research shows that PRSPs are failing to deliver. Millions of dollars, directed via governments and civil society, have been spent on development programmes that are having no real impact on the ground. Research suggests scant coordination between various stakeholders, while governments have lacked the technical capacity or shown little or no political will to engage civil society and take forward policies that benefit the poor and marginalized or take gender considerations into account. At the same time, the process has suffered from corruption and misuse of funds, with little accountability to the populations of recipient countries. More than 10 years on, PRSPs have thus failed to move communities out of poverty and, crucially, have largely ignored the plight of minorities and indigenous peoples. The author advises that all parties need to urgently reassess the process, or the PRSPs will never be able to meet their promises to the poor, most particularly minorities and indigenous communities.

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