The PRSP approach has been a success, as the figures from 2005 show: more than 40 countries are currently implementing a national Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). Over 20 of them have already prepared at least one progress report. PRS implementation takes an average of three years, and three countries are already implementing the "second generation" of completely revised PRSPs. States that have not yet prepared a PRS are mainly countries lacking stability that are caught up in conflicts.

The PRS process is having clearly positive impacts in qualitative terms too. PRSPs have helped put the topic of poverty reduction on the international agenda and establish it as a core topic in the individual countries. Participation by civil society and parliaments has increased since the beginning of the process. In some countries, it was the PRSPs that prompted dialogue between government and civil society for the first time. Due to the PRSPs, considerably more attention is now also paid to results, monitoring and the selection of indicators. Coordination between the individual donor countries has also improved.

Problems and need for action

Considerable challenges still exist, however. Conflicting political and economic interests and insufficient institutional capacity mean that priorities are not adequately defined for the activities envisaged in the PRSs. This reduces the extent to which the process can be steered. Integration of the parliaments and civil society is often not adequately guaranteed on a long-term basis. In addition, capacity to implement the strategies, particularly financial management, is lacking. On the donor side, valuable synergies are lost because opportunities for improving coordination often fail to be harnessed. The issue of ownership, i.e. responsibility on the part of the partner countries, frequently poses a problem too, and linking the strategies to the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals is often difficult.

GIZ is addressing these problems in a country-specific context. A few examples are given below:

• PRS strategy consultancy in Armenia has led to the PRS focusing on key areas of action, and civil society has been integrated as a partner.

• In Guinea, establishment of a participatory monitoring system has given the PRS a firm place within society and has increased acceptance.

• In Yemen, an integrated monitoring system has been set up to ensure that sectoral strategies are compatible with the goals of the PRS and overarching development goals.

• In Kenya, financial management has been improved by introducing gender-responsive budgeting in PRS support.

A detailed description of these and other examples, the approach and GIZ's experience can be found in Making PRS Work, part of the PRS Review 2005 (see right-hand column).