Toward a Conflict-Sensitive Poverty Reduction Strategy : Lessons from a Retrospective Analysis

Abstract

This report constitutes the first year's product of a three-year program that aims to contribute to effective poverty reduction strategies in conflict-affected countries. The key questions discussed in this report are based on the lessons from retrospective case studies of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Georgia, Nepal, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Sri Lanka. The report analyzes experiences of these nine countries as they developed their first PRSP. Among the questions posed are: In what ways have Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs) in conflict-affected countries taken their particular contexts into account? To what extent have an assessment of the sources of conflict and the ways they interact with poverty informed the strategies? How did groups that were socially excluded or especially conflict-affected participate in the process? How did the countries plan to address sources of conflict and deal with the destructive consequences of violence? How did governments organize the PRSP preparations in divided societies, and how did international donors engage with the process?