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Summary: This paper assesses how the needs of children are incorporated into Ethiopia's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), known as the Ethiopian Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme 2002-2005 (SDRDP), and to develop policy recommendations for the second PRSP based on a comparative content analysis with other countries' PRSPs.A rights-based framework is used to analyse the SDPRP's policies, programmes and indicators. It assesses the extent to which both the direct (child-specific policy commitments) and indirect (macro-development) policies are in keeping with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) principles of child survival, development, protection, equal treatment and participation.
The paper finds that Ethiopia's first PRSP did not have an explicit analytical framework and strategy for addressing childhood poverty. Instead it followed the core emphases of the MDG framework. In terms of macro-economic policies, one-fifth of the government budget was to cover pro-poor policy sectors - education, health, road infrastructure, agricultural development and water supply. The education sector was allocated the highest share, however, its per capita expenditure is exceedingly low and much below internationally recommended minimums for low-income countries. The health sector, especially nutrition services, fared considerably worse.
By drawing on the best practices of PRSPs in other developing countries, the paper draws attention to the need for a more multi-dimensional understanding of childhood poverty, including attention to other core principles of the UNCRC, such as a child's right to protection from exploitation, social exclusion, discrimination and vulnerability, and the right to participate in family and community decisions that affect their lives. Such an approach would, in turn, necessitate a cross-sectoral policy approach to ensure optimal co-ordination of service delivery, as well as sequencing and synergies between policy interventions. The more successful integration of gender equality as a cross-cutting issue into the SDPRP however, does offer some important lessons.
Owner: Jones, N.; Gutema, B.; Tefera, B.; Woldehanna, T.pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/WP22Mainstreaming.pdf