B. POLICY<strong>Poverty</strong> reducti<strong>on</strong> will be a central focus ofCanada's development cooperati<strong>on</strong> program.CIDA will make c<strong>on</strong>certed efforts through itsprograms to c<strong>on</strong>tribute to a sustained reducti<strong>on</strong>both in the number of people living in poverty indeveloping countries, and in the extent of theirdeprivati<strong>on</strong>.(1) An Agency-wide definiti<strong>on</strong> of povertyreducti<strong>on</strong> will be adopted.<strong>Poverty</strong> reducti<strong>on</strong> means a sustained decreasein the number of poor and the extent of theirdeprivati<strong>on</strong>. This requires that the root causesand structural factors of poverty be addressed.Reducing poverty places a focus <strong>on</strong> people's capabilitiesto avoid,or limit, their deprivati<strong>on</strong>. Keyaspects of this are: recognizing and developing thepotential of the poor; increasing their productivecapacity; and reducing barriers limiting theirparticipati<strong>on</strong> in society. <strong>Poverty</strong> reducti<strong>on</strong> mustfocus <strong>on</strong> improving the social, ec<strong>on</strong>omic andenvir<strong>on</strong>mental c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s of the poor and theiraccess to decisi<strong>on</strong> making.<strong>Poverty</strong>-reducti<strong>on</strong> activities should be carried outin a manner which promotes sustainability, buildsself-reliance, and avoids dependency relati<strong>on</strong>shipsam<strong>on</strong>g d<strong>on</strong>ors, partners, and beneficiaries.(2) <strong>Poverty</strong> profiles and reducti<strong>on</strong> strategieswill be integrated into country or regi<strong>on</strong>alpolicy frameworks. Efforts will be made toensure that the strategies are complementaryto those of recipient countries.A poverty profile analyzes the root causes andc<strong>on</strong>tributing factors of poverty, and places povertywithin a country's ec<strong>on</strong>omic, instituti<strong>on</strong>al andsocial c<strong>on</strong>text. It summarizes informati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> thesources of income, c<strong>on</strong>sumpti<strong>on</strong> patterns, ec<strong>on</strong>omicactivities, access to services and living c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>sof the poor, and examines how poverty iscorrelated with gender, ethnic and othercharacteristics.A poverty reducti<strong>on</strong> strategy requires an understandingof the specific characteristics of povertyin a country or locality, the requirements forpoverty reducti<strong>on</strong>, and assessments of whereCIDA, given its resources, can have the greatestimpact. CIDA will select activities which workto diminish c<strong>on</strong>straints or improve opportunitiesfor the largest possible number of people. Theidentificati<strong>on</strong> of c<strong>on</strong>straints and opportunitiescomm<strong>on</strong> to a large number of the poor in agroup or country, as well as the selecti<strong>on</strong> of activitiesto reduce poverty, must be d<strong>on</strong>e with the fullparticipati<strong>on</strong> of people, their organizati<strong>on</strong>s andtheir governments.It must be clearly recognized that the scope ofpoverty-reducti<strong>on</strong> activities can occur at the community,local, regi<strong>on</strong>al, nati<strong>on</strong>al and internati<strong>on</strong>allevels because the c<strong>on</strong>straints and opportunitiesfacing different groups of the poor can occur at allthese levels. A clear distincti<strong>on</strong> must be madebetween these levels to address the systemic causesof poverty and to promote effective programming.3
(3) Programming at CIDA will be c<strong>on</strong>sistentwith the goal of poverty reducti<strong>on</strong>.CIDA programming will be assessed with respectto its impact <strong>on</strong> the poor. To be c<strong>on</strong>sistent withthe goal of poverty reducti<strong>on</strong>, programs or projects--evenif they do not directly target the poor--should minimize the negative impacts <strong>on</strong> thepoor, where possible, and exploit complementaritieswhich can also have a positive impact <strong>on</strong> thepoor. (For example, in situati<strong>on</strong>s where privatesector development can help reduce poverty bygenerating income and employment growth,CIDA will assist programs that support localenterprises, particularly microenterprises, cooperatives,and small businesses.)(4) CIDA will c<strong>on</strong>centrate <strong>on</strong> areas where it hasa comparative advantage: this includes bothpoverty-focussed and policy-level interventi<strong>on</strong>s.Although poverty reducti<strong>on</strong> is multifaceted innature, CIDA cannot be "all things to all people".CIDA needs to focus its efforts to find areas ofcomparative advantage where, given its resources,it can make significant interventi<strong>on</strong>s. Strategicinterventi<strong>on</strong>s require an analysis of what <str<strong>on</strong>g>CIDA's</str<strong>on</strong>g>capabilities are and <strong>on</strong> what areas it should c<strong>on</strong>centrate.There must be a c<strong>on</strong>stant search forcomplementarities am<strong>on</strong>g project, program, instituti<strong>on</strong>alsupport and policy interventi<strong>on</strong>s.This means that the target beneficiaries of all programmingwill need to be identified, as well asthose who might face indirect negative repercussi<strong>on</strong>s;that poverty profiles will be used for n<strong>on</strong>povertyinterventi<strong>on</strong>s; and that indicators will bedeveloped to measure the impact of projects.4CIDA Photo: David Barbour
Change language