Participation in poverty assessments
Norton, Andrew | Stephens, Thomas
This paper gives an overview of the World Bank's experience in expanding the participation of various stakeholders in the preparation of poverty assessments. The paper looks at participation of "primary stakeholders"--the actual poor in the country--and of "institutional stakeholders"--those government and societal actors who are responsible for defining a country's poverty problems and policy solutions, as well as those institutional actors responsible for implementing agreed poverty reduction measures. "Participatory Poverty Assessments (PPAs)" refers to the use of various research techniques to explore the perceptions of the participants. The premise is that involving the poor in the process will ensure that the strategies identified for poverty reduction will reflect their concerns. With regard to participation with institutional stakeholders, the paper stresses the importance of building ownership and of collaboration with these stakeholders who define and translate poverty reduction policies into programs and services. There are four steps where participatory approaches among institutional stakeholders can occur in the preparation of poverty assessments: a) defining and shaping the research agenda; b) undertaking the analytical work once the research agenda is set; c) formulating policy prescriptions and strategies based on the outcomes of the analysis; and d) disseminating results for achieving consensus and ownership within government and society as a whole.
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