1. IMPLEMENTING POLICY GUIDANCE ON PRO-POOR GROWTH
Solveig Buhl, OECD
Taking Action for the World’s Poor and Hungry People
Beijing, October
This master presentation is intended as a support to anyone making a presentation of POVNET’s recommendations on pro-poor growth. A presenter may add, remove or change specific slides.
Each slide is provided with notes which are intended to give presenters an easy reference to relevant texts in POVNET publications.
Master presentations are also available for the “sectoral” publications (PSD, agriculture and infrastructure).

2. ECONOMIC Consumption Income Assets
DAC POVERTY REDUCTION NETWORK (POVNET)
ECONOMIC Consumption Income Assets
Focus on the economic dimension of poverty
The 2001 DAC Guidelines on Poverty Reduction showed that poverty has multiple and interlinked causes and dimensions: economic, human, political, socio-cultural, protective/security.
Since 2003 the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) through its Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET) has focused its work on one dimension of that bigger picture – reducing economic poverty through pro-poor growth.
The work of POVNET since then has given priority to addressing strategies and policies in areas that contribute to pro-poor economic growth such as infrastructure, private sector development and agriculture.
Task teams were set up and met over a period of two and a half years to improve understanding of the constraints and opportunities in these areas with a view to developing policy guidance for donors.

3. POVNET: Developing policy guidance on pro-poor growth
Based on the experience of DAC POVNET member countries:
Policy guidelines that enhances the ability of poor people to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth
This slide present the core message on POVNET’s view on pro-poor growth.
What is pro-poor growth?
Pro–poor growth focuses attention on the extent to which poor women and men are able to participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth, as measured by changes in the incomes of the households in which they live and the assets they and their children acquire to earn higher incomes in the future.
When may growth be termed pro-poor?
There are different views on this issue. For some, what matters is whether the incomes of the poor are rising relative to the incomes of the non-poor and hence inequality is falling. The merit of this perspective is that it focuses attention on whether the poor are benefiting more or less proportionately from growth and whether inequality, a key determinant of the extent to which growth reduces poverty, is increasing or falling. For others, what matters most is the absolute rate at which the incomes of the poor are rising. For example, are the incomes of the poor rising fast enough to reduce the number of people living below the international poverty line in accordance with MDG 1:1?
The relative and absolute concepts of pro-poor growth are both relevant, and complement each other in the analysis of growth processes from a pro-poor perspective. In fact, the tools needed to analyse how the poor are participating in and benefiting from growth may be used with either definition.
See further chapter 1.2 in the “Key Policy messages”. Analytic tools are further described in Box 1.

4. FOR DONORS, NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
Donors need to be more flexible and responsive to country situations and processes
The engagement between policy makers, private sector and civil society needs to be strengthened
The poor need to be informed and empowered to participate in the policy making process
Policy trade-offs exist but can be better managed
Rethink approaches: private sector development, infrastructure and agriculture
This slide spells out POVNET’s general messages in Chapter 5 on the role of donors in promoting pro-poor growth, while the following slides deals with each of the three thematic areas which POVNET has studied in more detail.
Main POVNET message:
The pro-poor growth agenda has important implications for the way donors support partner countries. It is not a ‘business as usual’ agenda, and ‘more of the same’ will not be sufficient.
Further POVNET messages:
Donors should focus on supporting in-country processes that are inclusive of the poor. Donors should support the emergence and development of policy-making processes that are formal, transparent and accountable to the interests of the poor, and conduct their policy dialogue through them
Donor support needs to be long term, flexible and responsive to country situations
Donors need to stay engaged in states where respect for the rule of law and governance are weak
A pro-poor growth lens reveals the need to rethink agendas and approaches in areas important to pro-poor growth, such as private sector development (PSD), infrastructure, agriculture and risk and vulnerability
Donors need to enhance their organisational capacities to effectively support country-led, pro-poor growth

5. INFRASTRUCTURE: FACTS
The infrastructure gaps are huge: 1 billion people lack road access, 1.2 billion do not have safe water
Bilateral donor support to infrastructure decreased from 35% of total ODA in 1997 to 15% in 2003
This slide is intended to serve as an introduction to the presentation of POVNET’s key messages to donors on infrastructure.
Photo: Sida

6. INFRASTRUCTURE: KEY POLICY MESSAGES TO DONORS
Support partner-led frameworks
Enhance infrastructure’s impact on poor people (target the poor)
Improve management of infrastructure investment to achieve sustainable outcomes
Increase infrastructure financing and use all financial resources efficiently
The POVNET agenda on infrastructure:

7. AGRICULTURE: FACTS 75% of the world’s poor live in rural areas
10% increase in farm yields may reduce number of people living below 1 USD/day by 6-10%
ODA support to agriculture decreased from 11% in 1984 to 3% in 2004
This slide is intended to serve as an introduction to the presentation of POVNET’s key messages to donors on agriculture.
© International Labour Organization/Maillard

8. AGRICULTURE: KEY POLICY MESSAGES TO DONORS
Recognize diversity of rural households
Build household assets, reduce barriers and expand access to markets
Support diversified livelihoods
Tackle risk and vulnerability through insurance and productive safety nets
The POVNET agenda on agriculture:

9. PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: FACTS
75% of non-agricultural work force in Africa earns its livelihood informally
DAC members spend roughly % of bilateral ODA on support to private sector development
This slide is intended to serve as an introduction to the presentation of POVNET’s key messages to donors on private sector development.

10. PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: KEY POLICY MESSAGES TO DONORS
Strengthen enabling environment
Recognize contribution by informal firms and workers and reduce disincentives to formalisation
Facilitate risk taking
Promote dialogue between state, private sector and civil society
Link / merge with PRS
The POVNET agenda on Private Sector Development:

11. POVERTY IMPACT ASSESSMENT: New approach to guide implementation of policy guidance
PIA is a harmonised approach that helps donors and their partners
take evidence-based decisions
to maximise the pro-poor impacts of their programmes and policies
to assess the distributional impacts of interventions

12. PIA FRAMEWORKS AND MODULES
Assess
Improvements to
MDGs plus
Risks 5
Assess enhancement to capabilities
(economic, protective, political,
cultural, human) – gender/environment 4 R E S U L T C H A I N
Determine transmission channels
(prices, employment, transfers, access,
authority, assets) 3
Information quality and gaps 2
assess the reliability of data/information and knowledge gaps
assess key assumptions and potential risks
provide a framework for improving baseline data and monitoring the impact hypothesis during implementation
Analyse Institutions & Stakeholders 1
Determine & Design Interventions
National Strategies / Plans
Country Assistance Strategies

13. WAY FORWARD
POVNET country workshops to operationalize the policy recommendations on country level
Promoting Poverty Impact Assessments (scaling up and capacity development in partner countries)
This slide spells out POVNET’s general messages in Chapter 5 on the role of donors in promoting pro-poor growth, while the following slides deals with each of the three thematic areas which POVNET has studied in more detail.
Main POVNET message:
The pro-poor growth agenda has important implications for the way donors support partner countries. It is not a ‘business as usual’ agenda, and ‘more of the same’ will not be sufficient.
Further POVNET messages:
Donors should focus on supporting in-country processes that are inclusive of the poor. Donors should support the emergence and development of policy-making processes that are formal, transparent and accountable to the interests of the poor, and conduct their policy dialogue through them
Donor support needs to be long term, flexible and responsive to country situations
Donors need to stay engaged in states where respect for the rule of law and governance are weak
A pro-poor growth lens reveals the need to rethink agendas and approaches in areas important to pro-poor growth, such as private sector development (PSD), infrastructure, agriculture and risk and vulnerability
Donors need to enhance their organisational capacities to effectively support country-led, pro-poor growth

14. www.oecd.org/dac/poverty FOR FURTHER READING ... Thank you!
POVNET’s policy guidance to donors on private sector development, infrastructure and agriculture is being published in two ways: as a part of an integrated compendium on pro-poor growth and as separate off-prints. In addition, the same documents can be retrieved digitally from the DAC website and are also available on a CR-ROM.
Thank you!