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5.6 A coherent framework for national and local action: Working Out of Poverty

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: Increased in-depth analysis of the multifaceted experience of poverty is leading to a growing awareness of the need for a range of policies that are specific to the problems faced by different communities and countries. Given that the causes of poverty are many and interconnected, targeted policies have most effect when they act in combination to break cycles of poverty. One of the most encouraging aspects of the new approach to poverty reduction and eradication is therefore the emphasis on policy coherence, based on a comprehensive development framework.

5.6 A coherent framework for national and local action: Working Out of Poverty

Increased in-depth analysis of the multifaceted experience of poverty is
leading to a growing awareness of the need for a range of policies that are
specific to the problems faced by different communities and countries. Given
that the causes of poverty are many and interconnected, targeted policies
have most effect when they act in combination to break cycles of poverty.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the new approach to poverty reduction
and eradication is therefore the emphasis on policy coherence, based on
a comprehensive development framework.

Poverty restricts the freedom of women and men to enlarge and realize
their capacity to achieve and enjoy a long, healthy and productive life as respected
members of cohesive communities. The setting of goals such as those
agreed by the Millennium Summit is an important mechanism for deciding
on priorities and measuring progress, but eradicating poverty is essentially
about ensuring that people have the power to shape their own lives by their
own efforts and by cooperating with others. Coherence should not be imposed,
but constructed by people organized in networks of public and private
social institutions, respecting each other’s fundamental human rights,
and thus able to agree to act together for a common goal.

The need for poverty reduction strategies tailored to the specific needs,
capacities and opportunities of communities and countries means that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to policy coherence will not work. Communities
and countries must fix their own priorities and put together, from a range of
policy options, a balanced and integrated strategy. Decisions about potential
trade-ins and trade-offs and the best sequencing and pace of the strategy are
often critical, but if they are to work well they must be taken by those who
will have to implement programmes.

The twin principles of ownership and participation that underlie the
new global strategy for poverty reduction imply a substantial degree of decentralization
of decisions about priorities, both to countries and, within
countries, to communities. However, decentralization without respect for
basic human rights will not empower people living in poverty and vulnerable
to the arbitrary exercise of power by local elites. Recent research by the
World Bank in Indonesia indicates that village-level governance structures
are more effective where people also participate in other social organizations,
such as credit cooperatives and water user groups. For people living in
poverty, a collective voice is important to participation in local decisions that can become dominated by the strongest families in the village. 29 The foundations
for effective ownership and participation in policies and programmes
for poverty reduction are the freedom to organize and the power
that collective action gives to individuals who otherwise are not able to shape
their own lives.

In broadening and deepening participation in the development process,
the role of parliaments and other democratically elected bodies is central.
Commitments made by donors are for many countries a major part of the financing
needed for national budgets. Recipient countries’ parliaments could
play an important role in ensuring that promises are kept on both sides and
that the costs of managing aid flows are kept to a minimum. 30

International agencies, including the ILO, are changing their approach
to development to encourage and facilitate a much stronger role for governments
of aid-receiving countries, parliaments, and national partners, such as
employers’ organizations, trade unions and community groups. The Poverty
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process initiated by the World Bank and
increasingly being implemented by other international and national development
agencies aims to place the main responsibility for policy design and
implementation in the hands of the governments of the poorest countries.
The United Nations Development Group is also working to align its planning
mechanisms with the poverty reduction strategies set by developing
countries.

In addition, the new approach encourages governments to consult
widely with business and trade unions, parliaments, local authorities and
civil society in developing their PRSPs. Yet progress is slow, both in ensuring
that coherent national policies receive adequate international financial support
and in shifting the aid relationship away from excessive conditionality
to donors towards increased accountability to citizens in poorer countries.

As part of this effort, the ILO aims to spread awareness of the decent
work approach to poverty reduction, to make available the portfolio of ILO
technical assistance and, most importantly, to encourage the range of social
institutions that comprise the “community of work” to participate in the design
and implementation of nationally owned strategies. The ILO is assisting
its tripartite constituents to develop mechanisms of social dialogue as a vital
component of this process. An important vehicle for this work will be the
ILO’s own decent work country programmes.

The ILO will continue its efforts to ensure that national and international
policy-makers concerned with issues such as financial stability and
trade liberalization take into account the interrelationship between employment
growth, social stability and other macroeconomic and development
goals.

Related Articles
  2.9 Conclusions: Working Out of Poverty
  1.13 Working safely out of poverty: Working Out of Poverty
  1.19 Building trust: Working Out of Poverty
  1.9 Building local development through cooperatives: Working Out of Poverty
  5.0 Decent work, poverty eradication and policy coherence: Working Out of Poverty

Article Tags: causes of poverty, cohesive communities, common goal, comprehensive development, development framework, eradication, fundamental human rights, global strategy, millennium summit, new approach, policy coherence, policy options, poverty reduction strategies, productive life, social institutions, strategy decisions, substantial degree, trade offs, twin principles, women and men



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