Fighting Poverty More Effectively

Fighting Poverty More
Effectively – Worldwide
Cross-Sectoral Strategy on Poverty Reduction
BMZ Strategy Paper 6 | 2012e
Dirk Niebel
Federal Minister for economic Cooperation and Development
Gudrun Kopp
parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for economic Cooperation and Development
Hans-Jürgen Beerfeltz
State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for economic Cooperation and Development
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Table of contents
Poverty: Poverty reduction successes and current challenges
4
Poverty: Current challenges
6
1.
Reducing poverty and overcoming the causes of poverty –
the core objective of German development policy
6
2.
Three priorities
7
(1)
Investing in people and sustainable structures, so that men, women and
young people can develop and make use of their own capabilities
Supporting and challenging business so that people living in poverty
gain access to employment and income
Creating and strengthening development-friendly framework conditions
so that state structures contribute more effectively to reducing poverty
11
3.
Six principles
13
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
Putting people at the centre
Context
Orienting efforts to National Poverty Reduction Strategies
Making use of all potentials
Results orientation
Ownership and accountability
13
13
13
14
14
14
(2)
(3)
Bibliography
7
9
15
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Poverty: Poverty reduction successes and
current challenges
“Good development enables people to seize the opportunities available to them and to lift themselves out of poverty.
Effectiveness is an important issue for us. That is why our development policy is oriented to creating better global
ecological, economic, political and social conditions so as to eliminate the causes of poverty.”
(Dirk Niebel, Foreword to “Minds for Change – Enhancing Opportunities”, 2011, p. 3)
Over the past 30 years 650 million people worldwide have lifted themselves out of absolute poverty.
Successes in relation to poverty reduction give people
new opportunities and possibilities for improving
their standard of living. Inclusive economic growth
has made a key contribution to that and has created
opportunities for employment and more investment
in education, health and social protection systems,
among other things. Despite these successes, however, 1.29 billion people worldwide are still living in
extreme poverty.
Overcoming poverty and the causes of poverty are
thus still key global challenges. This Cross-Sectoral
Strategy on Poverty Reduction sets out in more
concrete terms the political objectives and frame of
reference for this area of development cooperation.
It supplements and operationalises the overarching “Minds for Change – Enhancing Opportunities”
strategy and complements existing, relevant sector strategy papers adopted by the German Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ).
It is in the best interests of all countries – developing, emerging and industrialised nations – to reduce
poverty and overcome the causes of poverty. Poverty
poses a threat to peace and security, and it limits
not only individual but also social and economic
development opportunities. Good governance and
democratic participation are key preconditions when
it comes to sustainably reducing poverty. The fact
that an increasing number of poor people are now
living in relatively developed countries shows that
the problem needs to be addressed on a broad basis,
both in terms of the approaches adopted to poverty
reduction and with a view to the responsible actors.
Poverty is multi-dimensional and often a consequence of the denial of human rights. Because of the
various forms of deprivation it entails, poverty often
seriously impacts people’s prospects and living standards in multiple ways. For example, poverty means
insufficient income and food; lack of employment
opportunities preclude a self-determined life and
basic infrastructure and intact ecosystem services
(e.g. water and land) are inaccessible; discrimination
and social and political exclusion deny people a say on
many issues and equal participation opportunities;
poor education and diseases restrict productivity and
individual opportunities; multifarious risks (such
as the negative impact of climate change and natural disasters, violence, dwindling natural resources)
threaten people’s lives. These are all facets of poverty,
even though they do not always occur simultaneously.
For the purposes of international comparability,
poverty data are generally reduced to income data
alone and defined as somewhere between the monetary thresholds of US$1.25 or US$ 2 a day: In 2008,
2.47 billion people were living on less than US$2
a day. Of those people, 1.29 billion were living in
extreme income poverty, i.e. on less than US$1.25
a day. Around one third to one quarter of these are
described as chronically poor, i.e. as remaining in
that condition over a long period of time. Many
people live on much less, that is less than US$ 0.5
a day. According to estimates, approximately one
billion people are suffering from hunger or are chronically undernourished.
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Women and girls are more strongly affected by all the
dimensions of poverty and undernourishment than
men. More than two thirds of the world’s extreme
poor are women and girls. Offering targeted support
to women and girls corresponds to our values and has
proven especially effective, since involving them in
development processes promotes economic growth,
and women and girls often bear the greatest responsibility for their families’ well-being.
Children and young people are also often disproportionately excluded from social, economic and political
participation and thus particularly severely affected
by poverty. Young people under the age of 25 account
for up to 70 per cent of the population in partner
countries.
Increasing numbers of people have moved out of
extreme poverty, but remain very vulnerable (lack
of resilience). They are at high risk of falling back
into extreme poverty if they become ill or face other
serious difficulties.
More than three quarters of the poor population in
developing countries live in rural areas. That is why
an effective poverty reduction policy must include
the targeted structural promotion of rural areas.
Developing rural areas means improving services of
general interest, reinvigorating the rural economy
(especially agriculture) and improving the general
conditions so that they are conducive to development.
Due to higher population growth rates (especially
in agglomerations) poverty reduction in urban areas faces other challenges that must be addressed
in a targeted fashion. Forward-thinking planning is
needed when it comes to tapping the potentials and
opportunities inherent in population dynamics.
The number of people living in absolute poverty
in East Asia has dropped dramatically, and slight
progress has also been made on reducing poverty
in South Asia and Latin America. For the first time
since 1981 the proportion of people living in absolute
poverty in sub-Saharan African has dropped below
50 per cent. Nevertheless, the number of people
living on between US$1.25 and US$2 a day has nearly
doubled. Seventy per cent of the world’s extreme poor
currently live in Africa and South Asia.
At present, there are two “lowest billions”: Approximately one billion people live in poor countries with
little growth – many of them in fragile states – while
another one billion people live in extreme poverty in
so-called middle-income countries. These countries
bear great responsibility for ensuring that they use
the scope and means (e.g. government revenue and
expenditure policy) available to them to reduce
poverty.
“Things cannot continue as before”
(Dirk Niebel, “Minds for Change – Enhancing
Opportunities”, 2011, p. 8)
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Poverty: Current challenges
1.
ReDuCiNG PoveRTy aND oveRComiNG
THe CauSeS of PoveRTy –
THe CoRe oBJeCTive of GeRmaN
DeveloPmeNT PoliCy
Humanity still faces key challenges when it comes to
reducing poverty and overcoming the causes of poverty. However, poverty reduction is not only an end in
itself: it is also a key condition and element of growth,
sustainable global development, crisis management
and peacebuilding. Poverty reduction must give equal
consideration to the economic, human, ecological,
sociocultural, political and security-related dimension.
In recent decades developing countries and emerging economies have achieved notable successes in
terms of poverty reduction. The share of people
living in poverty has declined, although one in two
people worldwide is still affected by poverty. Based
on new methods of measuring poverty, which include
income, health, education and various aspects of
standards of living, more people are actually living in
poverty than it was previously assumed to be the case.
The challenges and successes of poverty reduction
vary greatly from region to region and from country
to country. Thus, in future approaches to reducing
poverty and overcoming the causes of poverty will
have to be more context-specific. Account also needs
to be taken of demographic developments.
One specific challenge lies in the fact that – despite
50 years of development cooperation – the gap
between poor and rich is growing both across countries and in many countries. Growing inequality
weakens social cohesion and also contributes to
exacerbating conflicts in many countries as well as
between countries and regions in the world.
Disasters and existential risks are on the increase
worldwide, also and especially in developing countries. Crises are more and more becoming the norm
and are in some cases mutually reinforcing on
account of the increasing economic and social in-
terrelations between countries and regions: Violent
conflicts and state fragility, the destruction and overexploitation of natural resources, climate change, the
loss of biodiversity, migration that is in part caused by
that loss of biodiversity and increasing urbanisation
have changed the context within which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have to be achieved
and poverty needs to be reduced.
Poverty reduction and overcoming the causes of
poverty correspond to our value system and are also in
our interest. That is why they are and remain the core
objective of German development policy. We measure
the effectiveness of development policy by the extent
to which extreme global poverty is reduced.
The core guiding principles and values of German
development policy are good governance and
human rights. In cases of conflict between interests
and values, values take precedence over interests.
Human rights will always be non-negotiable.
Many countries are still a long way from systematically respecting, protecting and guaranteeing human
rights. We are strongly committed to ensuring that
all nations recognise and guarantee civil, political,
economic, social and cultural human rights.
Our action is not only oriented to human rights, but
also to the Millennium Declaration and we stand by
the MDGs. The key demands of this joint frame of
reference adopted by the global community include
eliminating extreme poverty and hunger.
Developing countries and emerging economies bear
responsibility for using the political scope available
to them to reduce poverty, i.e. both to put in place the
conditions that enable people to develop the ability to
help themselves at local level, and to develop and implement poverty-reduction policies. We will continue
to support the efforts partner countries undertake
themselves – taking account both of their respective
needs and achievements.
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2.
THRee PRioRiTieS
Development policy is more than merely charitable
aid: it is an investment in the future that is in all our
interests. Experience shows that our contribution
to reducing poverty and overcoming the causes of
poverty needs to be based on three priorities:
(1)
investing in people and sustainable structures, so
that men, women and young people can develop
and make use of their own capabilities
special attention will be paid to agricultural
training and upskilling;
>
adopt an integrated approach to education that
covers all areas and forms of education, including tertiary education and, not least, labour
market-oriented vocational training, of which
we have wide-ranging experience on account of
our own dual vocational training system;
>
work towards ensuring that diverse and inclusive educational opportunities are available,
including non-formal and informal educational
initiatives, that enable the equal participation of
girls and boys, women and men, giving particular consideration to disadvantaged population
groups.
Education, health, access to basic infrastructure and
public services, and social protection are extremely
important so that individuals can develop and apply
their own capabilities and thereby improve their own
opportunities in life. Improvements in these areas
make a key contribution to achieving the MDGs.
Education: Education is key to developing both people’s potential to help themselves and their employability, and thus to overcoming poverty. Education
is also crucial when it comes to preventing the next
generation following into poverty. Poor education, by
contrast, curtails human rights, robs people of opportunities in life and reinforces inequality.
Health: Health has a decisive influence on quality of
life and the opportunities people living in poverty
have for participation. The relevant infrastructure
and services are extremely weak in rural areas in
particular.
We will …
>
support our partners by means of crosssectoral approaches to health promotion in
strengthening pro-poor health systems, and
will develop and drive forward innovative
instruments and partnerships to that end;
>
promote the health of children and women in
a targeted fashion, since they are often most
severely affected by poverty and acute or chronic
undernourishment – this explicitly includes
strengthening their rights and choices in regard
to contraception, pregnancy and birth;
>
promote the prevention and treatment of HIV
and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other
poverty-related diseases;
We will …
>
step up our commitment to achieve education
for all, taking especial account of the poorest of
the poor;
>
promote improvements to the quality of education, in addition to increasing the educational
opportunities available and improving access to
education;
>
encourage more business partnerships to
achieve education for all and to orient education
and training to the needs of the labour market
and the potentials of those living in poverty;
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>
support our partners when it comes to preventing harmful environmental impacts and sustainably fighting their causes, as well as adapting
the health systems of countries that are particularly affected by climate change to its impacts;
>
recommend and support hygiene measures
and continue to develop these with our partners in order to more clearly emphasise the link
between hygiene and health. Our main focus
here will be on poor and marginalised population groups;
>
promote access for poor people in developing
countries to affordable medicines and reasonably priced healthcare of adequate quality, as
well as to an adequate diet;
>
step up our commitment in regard to population dynamics as a future key issue, focussing
in particular on the specific concerns of poor
population groups.
Basic infrastructure, public services: Access to basic
infrastructure and public services is a prerequisite
for poor women and men to be able to grasp their
opportunities. Especially in densely-populated poor
regions, lack of such access leads to precarious living
and health conditions, to lack of security and limited
participation in social, economic and political life.
Improvements must be made in rural areas as well.
This presupposes that ecosystem-based services are
sustainably safeguarded, and also calls for effective
and transparent state structures – including at decentral level.
We will …
>
support our partners in guaranteeing affordable
access to essential ecosystem services that also
need to be preserved for future generations, such
as fertile land and safe drinking water, safe basic
sanitation and sustainable wastewater systems
for all, in particular the poor;
>
promote, in a targeted fashion, the elimination
of energy poverty, which is especially prevalent
in rural regions, for example by providing infrastructure or promoting local energy production,
and guarantee poor people access to sustainable
energy services;
>
contribute, by building roads and adapting
public transport to the resources and needs of
poor people, to improving the accessibility of
rural regions and informal settlements, and to
providing poor population groups with access to
markets and services;
>
promote the strengthening and establishing of
mandates and resources and capacity-building
at municipal level in order to guarantee the
population’s access to development-oriented
basic infrastructure and services that meet
citizens’ needs,
>
guarantee municipal waste management,
including in disadvantaged urban areas, thereby taking account of and incorporating the
informal sector;
>
stimulate and promote improvements to
indecent living conditions in slum areas and the
realisation of the right of all people in urban and
rural regions to decent housing;
>
support ecosystem-based adaptation to the
consequences of climate change especially in
the poorest developing countries.
Social protection: The resilience of the poor and
middle class needs to be strengthened in view of the
life risks and crises they face. Economic prosperity
means social protection systems can be established
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and expanded; nevertheless, individuals are also
called to make provision for themselves. However, the
state is responsible for ensuring that social protection
instruments are available to the entire population.
When private and public pension and social protection systems do not reach the poorest of the poor, a
basic social protection system needs to be put in place.
We will…
>
support the establishment of pro-poor health
system funding and social health protection
that provides universal access to high-quality
healthcare;
>
promote the development and expansion of
social protection systems that prevent the
impoverishment of population groups living
on a low or average income, thereby also incorporating their own appropriate contributions/
insurance solutions;
>
gear risk-hedging systems more to the needs
of and potentials in the informal sector, i.e.
especially people in rural areas;
>
support our partners in making effective government-based, financially sustainable basic
social protection available to people living in
extreme poverty;
>
promote the development and implementation
of adapted instruments and social protection
systems by involving business and civil society,
including poor and vulnerable population
groups.
(2)
Supporting and challenging business so
that people living in poverty gain access to
employment and income
Sustainable economic growth must reduce poverty
and lead to greater inclusion. Green and inclusive
growth in our partner countries is a key condition
for creating decent local jobs and income for people,
especially women, for generating tax revenues, increasing poor people’s standard of living and thus
permanently reducing poverty while at the same time
helping to preserve the environmental basis that will
provide future generations with development opportunities.
Business is a key driver when it comes to unlocking
the potentials available in a country – including those
of the poor. International economic relations should
also promote development, reduce poverty and help
to overcome the causes of poverty. Fair structures
in international economic and political cooperation
are needed for that to occur. Socially responsible and
environmentally friendly investments in developing countries can and should contribute to green and
inclusive growth that respects ecosystems’ absorption
and regeneration capacity.
We will step up our commitment to tapping the
economic potential in developing countries for inclusive, permanent and green economic development.
That is why in the run-up to the most important
development conference in 2012 – Rio+20 – we successfully pushed at the EU and UN level for greater
weight to be attached to the potentials for poverty
reduction inherent in a green economy and for ‘A
Green Economy in the Context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication’ to be made one
of the main topics at the conference. The transformation to a green economy does indeed pose challenges for various country groups and actors, but it
also provides huge economic, social and povertyreducing potentials. We will develop new approaches
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and forms of cooperation to that end in order to
make greater use of the business sector’s innovative capacity, know-how and financial resources to
further reduce poverty.
economic processes and gain access to essential
goods and services;
>
improving the business and investment climate
in our partner countries in such a way that
micro, small and medium-sized businesses can
benefit;
>
expanding financial systems so that financial
services are available to small and mediumsized businesses and individuals (savings, loans
and insurance) that enable them to secure their
own livelihoods and provide financial security
against external shocks;
>
coordinating measures for private sector
promotion, vocational training and labour
market policy in order to facilitate labour-intensive growth, especially in regions and sectors in
which poor people live and work;
>
generating services and solutions in the
informal sector, among other things to facilitate
access to the formal sector, as well as to increase
the productivity of businesses and employment
in the informal sector, to reduce underemployment, to enable people to earn a living wage and
to shape decent working and environmental
conditions;
>
pushing forward implementation of sustainability standards along value chains (including
human rights standards) in partner countries,
among other things by means of development
partnerships and better market incentives and
consumer information in Germany;
>
consistently orienting our commitment in the
area of business development and infrastructure
measures to significantly improving employment, earning and income opportunities also
and especially for poor men and women.
Key issues for us are …
>
>
>
promoting green and inclusive development
and growth so that people living in poverty can
contribute more to growth and benefit from it
through income and employment opportunities. Green economic growth means developing
value chains that are geared to the sustainable
use of natural and genetic resources and valorising biodiversity so as to create incentives
for its preservation. The key to inclusive economic growth is boosting the productivity and
innovation of local businesses, private sector
investments and corporate social responsibility
in developing countries, increasing local value
creation and taking especial account of the
regions and sectors in which people live and
work in poverty, as well as creating regulatory
and incentive systems that promote sustainable
production and consumption patterns;
improving employment, income and marketing
opportunities in rural areas – both by boosting
agricultural productivity and through value
added or reducing post-harvest losses. Account
must here be taken of the specific needs and
resources of micro and small-scale agriculture,
as well as of small and medium-sized businesses;
building government capacities so as to create
an enabling economic and business environment for private initiative to develop and to
have a regulatory effect in the event of serious
market failure, the destruction of natural capital
and indecent working conditions – so that as
many as possible, and poor people in particular,
can participate in national and international
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(3) Creating and strengthening developmentfriendly framework conditions so that state
structures contribute more effectively to
reducing poverty
Whether the MDGs can be achieved is decisively
dependent on how development-oriented and
responsible government action is. That includes,
firstly, preserving the natural resource base, because
people in developing countries are much more
directly dependent on natural resources than people
in industrialised countries are. People living in extreme poverty are more dependent than others on
well-functioning ecosystems to provide the basis
for their livelihood. Secondly, the basic framework
conditions for sustainable poverty reduction and for
overcoming the causes of poverty must be created
and strengthened. What is needed is a democratic,
non-violent environment in which a government
proactively and effectively respects, protects and
guarantees human rights, abides by the principles
of the rule of law, promotes gender equality, puts in
place the social and economic infrastructure, enables
and promotes a social and green market economy,
and, viewed overall, pursues poverty-reducing,
inclusive and transparent policies.
other, contribute in the best possible way to sustainable, global development, taking account of
the values and interests that we are pursuing in
reducing extreme poverty worldwide;
>
a non-violent and safe development environment is promoted at national and international
level that contributes in fragile states to conflict
resolution, peacebuilding and crisis prevention;
>
human rights are respected, protected and
guaranteed and that the same rights apply to
all, discriminatory provisions are abolished and
legal certainty is created for all, including poor
women, men and young people;
>
democracy, the rule of law and good governance
are mainstreamed at all levels of government
and our development cooperation contributes,
by cooperating with forces for reform, to
strengthening accountability and transparency
of governmental action vis-à-vis all citizens,
including the poor;
>
constructive relations between the government and society are promoted and democratic
structures established that enable all population
groups, the poor in particular, to take up the
opportunities for political participation;
>
all people have the opportunity to develop
their own potentials and be actively involved in
shaping social development in their country, in
particular through non-discriminatory access to
and use of information, resources and governmental services (including social protection
systems);
>
the legal conditions are increasingly created for
poor people living and working in a legally uncertain environment, for instance though secured
land, water, ownership and residence rights;
We will in future focus even more on ensuring that …
>
in addition to our bilateral cooperation, we
also contribute the strengths and experience
gained through that bilateral cooperation with
the greatest possible leverage to multilateral
processes and institutions to shape the global
framework conditions for sustainable poverty
reduction;
>
we improve policy coherency for development
within the German government and at international level so that development, foreign,
security, trade, agricultural, environmental
and climate policy can, by complementing each
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>
national elites accept responsibility and governmental action is development-oriented and
poverty-focused, is increasingly founded on its
own state revenues, for example from povertysensitive and green progressive tax systems, as
well as from revenue from commodities. These
include, in particular, the promotion of transparent budgeting procedures, and effective and
independent financial supervision as the basis
for a governmental expenditure policy that
meets its citizens’ needs;
>
civil society is strengthened and supported
when it comes to formulating the interests of
poor population groups and effectively bringing them to bear in political negotiations and
decision-making processes so as to strengthen
both the population’s ability to assert itself and
its self-determination;
>
the necessary enabling environment is created
so that civil society and business can get
actively involved in national and local decisionmaking processes and can make key contributions to the development process;
>
growth is used in an environmentally-friendly
manner, making use of the poverty-reduction
potentials inherent in a green economy;
>
the natural resource base is preserved for future
generations, because that also makes economic
sense. For example, in the area of land degradation the BMZ, in cooperation with the European
Commission and the UN Secretariat on the Convention for Combating Desertification, launched
an international research initiative to assess the
economic costs of global soil and land degradation (“Economics of Land Degradation”). Integrating the values of individual ecosystems into
decision-making processes at all levels contributes to securing ecosystem services in the long
term. The chronic poor in particular are directly
dependent on ecosystem services when it comes
to guaranteeing their livelihoods and they benefit, through sustainable management, from
increased security of supply and better resilience
to changing environmental influences;
>
decentral structures are achieved at all levels
in line with the principle of subsidiarity, and
their development, resources, infrastructure and
settlement programmes are planned and implemented based on the needs and potentials of
people living in poverty.
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3.
Six PRiNCiPleS
In view of our core objective, our contribution to
poverty reduction and to overcoming the causes of
poverty will be based on six principles:
(1)
of especially disadvantaged groups so that they are
able to call in their rights vis-à-vis the state.
(2)
Context: The main obstacles to poverty reduction
and overcoming the causes of poverty and the
factors that determine the risk of falling into poverty vary from country to country. That is why
our development cooperation will increasingly be
oriented to eliminating the context-specific structural and direct causes of poverty in each respective partner country. In doing so it is important to
start at the operational level closest to the issue
in question (subsidiarity principle) and to find
sustainable systemic or structural solutions that
take account of the country-specific, regional and
global context. We will promote ownership on the
part of our partners and support them in building
and expanding national capacities in the area of
pro-poor strategy development, policy-formation
and policy impact assessments.
(3)
Orienting efforts to National Poverty Reduction
Strategies: We adapt our work to country-specific
Putting people at the centre: Our development
policy puts people and their rights at the centre.
Everyone should have the opportunity to lead a
free, self-determined, dignified and autonomous
life and to develop and use their human potential.
That is why we support our partners in
>
improving the opportunities of men, women
and young people to lift themselves out of
poverty,
>
developing their potential to help themselves
in order to enable them to secure sustainable
livelihoods and to make it easier to live a selfdetermined, dignified life,
>
strengthening their ability to overcome crises
and to adapt to changing living and environmental conditions (resilience),
>
enabling or expanding participation, in particular
also of disadvantaged population groups, in social,
economic and political life and decision-making
processes (equal participation opportunities),
>
increasing access to diverse resources and
participation in green economic growth so as to
improve standards of living (well-being).
Gender equality is a key factor when it comes to
reducing global poverty. People living in poverty do
not form a homogenous group, but have different
needs and potentials. In cooperation with our partner
countries we ensure that increasing account is taken
needs and approaches, especially our partners’
development strategies and MDG action plans,
and we offer adapted support. Orienting efforts
to our partners’ strategies also means that we
take national definitions of poverty seriously.
For too long a one-dimensional concept has
been applied to poverty, namely the US$1.25
a day poverty line used at international level.
This approach reduces poverty to the income
dimension. We will, in addition, make systematic
use of non-monetary indices and qualitative
surveys and promote their further development.
Since the existing international poverty threshold can contribute to delegitimising national
poverty statistics, we further advocate innovative alternatives to the US$1.25 a day poverty
line (alternative poverty measures) that make
better use of national poverty data (e.g. internationally comparable national poverty lines).
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(4)
Making use of all potentials: We will mobilise
the potentials present in civil society, business
and new donors and use them to reduce poverty
and overcome the causes of poverty, for instance
also by supporting South–South cooperation.
Effective poverty reduction means making use
of comparative advantages and ensuring that all
actors’ contributions are complementary and
mutually reinforcing.
(5)
Results orientation: We advocate a results-based
approach to poverty reduction, also within the
context of multilateral development cooperation. The agreements adopted in Paris, Accra
and Busan provide the frame of reference for
that. We will measure the success of our work
in terms of poverty-reducing impacts and less
against funding allocated.
(6)
Ownership and accountability: We frame
our development policy so that it increases
accountability on the part of partner countries’
governments vis-à-vis their citizens and improves civil society participation in political
processes and decision-making. In doing so we
will also call for and support the effective participation and consideration of people living in
poverty when it comes to planning and implementing policy decisions that affect them.
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16
BMZ StrategY paper 6/2012e
published by the
Federal Ministry for economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Division for public relations, information and education
edited by the
Division Millennium Development goals; poverty reduction; social protection;
sectoral and thematic policies
Design and layout
BLOCK DeSIgN Kommunikation & Werbung, Berlin
as at
November 2012
addresses of the BMZ offices
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The priorities of
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More effectiveness
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Dirk Niebel
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www.bmz.de
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