Beyond the Rhetoric

Since 1999, the World Bank & the International Monetary Fund encourage developing countries to prepare poverty reduction strategies (PRSs),which are nationally integrated strategies formulated through a participatory process & coordinated with donors. This book, therefore, aims to contribute to the development, implementation, monitoring & evaluation of effective PRS, especially the Sustainable Development & Poverty Reduction Programme of Ethiopia. With reference to existing studies, the book justifies the need for a national strategy for sustainable development (NSSD) & identifies the principles and criteria for evaluating such strategies in relation to environmental, social and economic integration; the nature of the policy processes; targeting & resourcing. It then explains that NSSD & PRS have common characteristics and hence the criteria for NSSD evaluation can also be used for PRS. Based on the analysis, recommendations on Ethiopia's SDPRP 2002 have been made that could assist policy-makers, development workers and other concerned parties in their efforts to develop an effective sustainable development and poverty reduction strategies.