PRSP as an Indicator of Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PRSP as an Indicator of Change - Essay Example The PRSP approach has five principles--country driven, results-oriented, comprehensive, partnership-oriented, and long-term perspectives. The intention of these papers was to give developing countries the opportunity to become involved in their own poverty reduction strategies. As of 2002, an overview of the papers indicated that more monitoring was needed for the studies. Instead of being nationally derived, content across countries showed little variation, with external advice from outside sources and, in this respect, was not very different from the previous SAPs. The report called for more engagement between government and civil society. In addition, it was noted that countries were concerned primarily with stabilisation and only secondary with growth ("Overview"). Critics note that the similarities between SAPs and PRSPs show that the banks, and the countries that fund them, are still overly involved in the policy making process. It is difficult to determine the success or failure of PRSP as an instrument of significant change within the International Financial Institutions without exploring the various areas covered by PRSP as well as defining poverty as it affects the world. The Eldis Poverty Resource Guide supports analyses of poverty and related implications of social and economic policies within Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where large pockets of poverty exist. The focus of this essay will be on these three areas plus Eastern Europe to determine whether any significant change has been noted in the fight against poverty. Some areas explored by Eldis are urban poverty, rural poverty, human resources and education, as well as second generational poverty. Poverty, however, cannot be measured primarily in income or expenditure terms. It has multiple dimensions and different levels, as follows ("World Bank"): Monetary poverty - The World Bank regularly estimates poverty based on the $1 a day poverty line, converted to local currency at latest exchange rates. Income and consumption are examples of monetary indicators of poverty. Illiteracy - Lack of education as a precursor to poverty is one of the dimensions to be considered in a study of poverty. Skilled workers are more apt to be hired than unskilled workers, who have trouble finding secure employment. In a society more and more dependent on information technology, lack of education is very much a part of the poverty overview. Social exclusion - Those excluded from development and forced to live on the margins of society. When a country has been excluded for a long period of time, it is difficult to change attitudes which have led to that exclusion. Absolute poverty - This can be defined as the number of people living below a certain income level, based on a specific poverty line. Relative poverty - It measures the extent to which a household's financial resources fall below an average income threshold for the economy. Objective - Indicates people's access to different kinds of resources. Subjective - Indicates standard of living people actually enjoy. Each facet of poverty needs a different approach and, depending on type of poverty, each phase of financial assistance for individuals falls under different or multiple