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Summary: The report is a review of Proverty
Reduction Strategy Papers of Malawi,
Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana and
Lesotho. The PRSP approach forms
the basis of the international
community’s redefined anti-poverty
framework, and is a pre-requisite for
access to a broader range of
concessionary and developmental
assistance for low-income developing
countries.
International debate is starting to recognise that poverty is not
only of developmental concern. The debates are now shifting into
the ambit of human rights. The human rights approach to poverty
reduction recognises that those policies and institutions directed
towards poverty reduction should be based explicitly on the
norms and values set out in the international law of human
rights. This context provides poverty reduction strategies, in
particular PRSPs, the potential to empower the poor, rather than
simply direct development efforts towards poor people.
Save the Children Sweden commissioned this review of PRSPs in
the Southern Africa region in respect of their focus on child
poverty and child rights, and the role of civil society participation
in formulating and implementing national PRSPs.
Some of the conclusions of the review are that the PRSPs
contribution to reducing child poverty depends on:
- locating children and child poverty within the demographic and
poverty profiles that frame PRSPs;
- prioritising child-focused social service and support programmes
that promote the right to development of all children – without
discrimination;
- implementing public expenditure management reforms that
reprioritise resources towards child focused social service and
development interventions.
The review concludes with a number of recommendations to child
advocacy organisations and child rights actors on the role they
could play in the implementation and review of the Southern
African processes, for example:
- to build local capacity on economic and development literacy to
raise awareness and participation, particularly child participation,
in PRSP processes;
- to undertake research and analysis on the implementation,
monitoring and review of PRSP processes and
- to increase advocacy efforts, and their impact, regarding the
importance of PRSP processes to reducing child poverty and
enhancing child rights in the region.
Owner: Shirley Robinson