Syed Mohammad Ali:

Participation in the peocess of developing Pakistan’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)

 

Initial Work and Advocacy Plan

June, 2005

 

1          Aim of the project

 

The basic aim of my project is to improve the quality of analysis, to highlight lessons learned and to provide recommendations to enhance local ownership of international poverty alleviation and development initiatives by encouraging greater participation in poverty reduction strategies involving the Pakistan Government, its donors and the public at large.

 

2          Identification of OSI network programs that may serve as partners and the expected benefits from the cooperation:

 

·        Establishing information sharing mechanisms;

·        Seek advice in conceptual matters and in identifying partners, advocacy organizations and relevant stakeholders.

 

More specifically:

 

OSI’s Education Support Program,  the LGI Initiative and the Latin America Program/Harmonizing Economic Policy Making With Open Society Values 

 

i)          Since the Harmonizing Economic Policy-Making With Open Society Values under the Latin Ameria Program is also examining the impact of "Washington Consensus" economic policies on the consolidation of democracy in the developing country context, I will share findings of a retrospective CSO review of the PRSP, which I am proposing to undertake in collaboration with a partnering NGO (South Asia Partnership-Pakistan).

 

ii)         Building on my own research and seeking to complement OSI’s interest in devolution in Pakistan, a proposal has been developed in conjunction with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan to highlight the relevance of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper with the simultaneous implementation of the devolutionary framework in the country. The findings of this research will be incorporated within my broader research outcome and also shared with relevant OSI initiatives like the LGI initiative.

 

iii)        To complement OSI-Budapest’s work in the education sector in Pakistan, being undertaken in collaboration with Soicety for Enhancement of Education, I am keen to explore the mechanism of participation in the success of educational provision. The scope of the research remains tentative and subject to approval by the concerned program personnel.

 

3          Final outcomes/activites of the project

 

3.1      20-page Policy Study

 

3.1.1               Retrospect on participation within the PRSP in Pakistan

3.1.2               Recommendations for governmental agencies and international donors (particularly the World Bank) on making development planning more participatory

3.1.3               Corelation of lessons learnt to broader experience of development planning

 

3.2.     Policy Briefing Paper

 

3.2.1               Identifying salient features and recommendations emerging from the lesson of Pakistan via-a-vis formulation of the PRSP

 

3.3      Research Paper

 

3.3.1               Analysis of the real and potential value of participation in the formulation of the PRSPs, with particualr reference to the case of Pakistan. This research paper will be based on both primary and secondary research and it will provide the substance for the Policy Study and the Policy Briefing Papers

 

3.4      Background Paper

 

3.4.1               Background paper focusing on the role of structural adjustment in poverty alleciation in developing countries, particualrly Pakistan

 

3.5      Workshops, Meetings & Interviews

 

3.5.1               Meetings with World Bank, Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission other donor and civil society representatives involved in the PRSP process in Pakistan

 

3.5.2               Meetings with officials at the World Bank Institute, in the Povery and Growth and the Social Development Department at the World Bank headquarters in Washington

 

3.5.3               Meetings with a range of local government officials, and civil society personnel in various districts across the country (for above mentioned research in collaboration with HRCP and SAP-PK)

 

3.5.4               Participation in a seminar on the Communcation Strategy of the PRSP organized by the Ministry of Finance in Islamabad in June 2005

 

3.5.5               Participation in the 9th Thematic International Training on Participatory Approaches being organized by PRAXIS-India in Hyderabad from 19th to 29th Spetember 2005

 

3.6      Newspaper articles (at least four) and a radio discussion on the PRSP (Tentative)

           

3.6.1               Newspaper articles of relevance to the PRSP in a leading English daily newspaper in Pakistan, The Daily Times (www.dailytimes.com.pk)

 

3.6.2               Roundtable discussion on the PRSP for Pakistan to be broadcast on the Voice of America’s Urdu Service

 

Tentative outcomes of the project

 

I           Two Research Papers[1]

 

i)                     Devolution and the PRSP – based on proposal submitted to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

ii)                    CSO Review of the PRSP – based on proposal submitted to South Asia Partnership of Pakistan

           

 

 

                         

 

 

 

 


[1] Subject to research being conducted successfully based on the initial project proposals formulated in collaboration with the HRCP and SAP