UNDP Advances New Approach To Poverty Reduction April 5, 2000 NEW YORK, UN (PANA) - Deviating from the traditional approach to poverty reduction that emphasises "targeted interventions" using small-scale projects, the UNDP has issued a report advocating the development of a new generation of poverty programmes focusing on making growth more pro-poor, targeting inequality and empowering the poor. The report, "Overcoming Human Poverty: UNDP Poverty Report 2000", states that effective anti-poverty programmes have to be comprehensive, integrated in national economic policies and focus on building national capacity for pro-poor policy making and institutional reforms. Over the years, the report says, poverty reduction programmes employed the two-track approach which pursued growth and social development in a parallel manner. "The two tracks rarely intersect: economic policies are not made pro-poor, while social services are assigned the burden of directly addressing poverty," it notes. To make poverty programmes effective, the report, released Tuesday, says the issue of governance and community involvement are very critical. Observing that the missing link between poverty programmes and poverty reductions are very often the lack responsive and accountable institutions of governance, it stresses the imperative of accountable democratic governments and the devolution of resources and responsibility to local governments and local communities. According to the report, self-organisation of the poor at the community level is the foundation of poverty reduction since it empowers the people and places them in a position to influence local governments and make them accountable. "A new generation of poverty programmes focuses on building community organisations to directly articulate people's needs and priorities, rather than concentrating on income-generating activities alone," the report notes. To focus resources on the poor, UNDP recommends adjusting macroeconomic policies to make growth more pro-poor, directing resources to sectors where the poor are employed such as agriculture as well as allocating resources to poor communities. But even with this approach, the report observes that the option of focusing resources on poor areas might meet the difficulty of reaching some disadvantaged groups such as women, ethnic minorities and other people of lower status. Also important for the success of poverty programmes is the linking of such programmes to international economic and financial policies, the report indicates. In this regard, it underscores the need for a fair international trading system where developed countries open their markets to exports from developing countries. "A high priority is to eliminate the protectionism that is biased against developing countries," the report suggests, saying "and to do this, the capacity of developing countries to negotiate global and regional trade agreements needs to be strengthened." The report also stresses the importance of increasing development assistance to developing countries with such aid focused on poverty reduction. In the efforts against poverty, it emphasises that countries develop a comprehensive system of monitoring their progress against poverty. Since the holding of the summit on social development in 1995, the report says, most countries have measured their extent of poverty, but very few have set targets for reducing it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2000 Panafrican News Agency. All Rights Reserved. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------