Nmjd Concludes Nationwide Sensitization On The Prsp

NMJD Concludes Nationwide Sensitization on the PRSP

The Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Poverty Alleviation Strategy Coordinating Office (PASCO), has ended a three-phased national sensitization and capacity building workshops on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The exercise was conducted in the 14 administrative districts of the country, bringing together a total of about one thousand people drawn mainly from pro-poor civil society groups in all of the 149 chiefdoms and the Western Area.

The main focus of the workshops was to sensitize communities and civil society organisations about the PRSP, which the government of Sierra Leone, with support from its development partners, is in the process of developing. The workshops were also intended to expose participants to basic advocacy and lobbying skills to enable them advocate effectively around issues of poverty reduction, economic growth and human development.

As of February 2001, Sierra Leone was (and still is) one of the 41 highly indebted poor countries of the world with unsustainable external debts thereby making it a worthy candidate for the HIPC Initiative. The HIPC debt relief initiative, though a strategy of the World Bank and other donor institutions, had its roots from the campaign mounted by civil society organisations around the World for the cancellation of debts owed by developing countries.

This initiative is meant to tighten the link between debt relief and poverty reduction. This is why beneficiary countries of the HIPC debt relief Initiative are expected in return to commit themselves to developing and implementing policies that will promote sound economic management and human development. The debate had been raging over the years that debt servicing by poor countries was a big hindrance to providing services in the social sector such as education and health.

Sierra Leone reached the decision point after it developed the I-PRSP in 2001, an exercise that qualified it for the HIPC initiative. The I-PRSP was done in haste because of the prevailing circumstances at the time, so there was not much consultation with the people. Under the HIPC debt relief initiative, a lot of projects and programmes in the areas of security, the economy and social sector development have received and continue to receive huge funding.

Some of these programmes have contributed immensely to addressing the wretched condition of the people, while others completely failed to make the difference. The reason for the dismal failure of others is generally attributed to unbridled corruption, which sees those in position of authority enriching themselves at the expense of public projects. The exclusion of the target beneficiaries from identifying and prioritizing their needs has also been identified as a big impediment to success.

In the area of corruption, the general concern has to do with the poor performance of contractors whose products are of sub-standard, due mainly to the fact that most of the monies meant for these projects go into private pockets Of equal concern also is the practice of those charged with the responsibility of awarding contracts demanding kick-backs or commissions from contractors thereby reducing the whole process to a business of the highest bidder carrying the day.

Sierra Leone’s qualification in 2001 for the HIPC Initiative also requires it to prepare the full PRSP which should outline in detail the country’s strategies as well as articulating its plans to reduce poverty. The acceptance of the PRSP by the World Bank and other donor institutions will very much depend on the participation of the general citizenry in its preparation because one of the core principles of any PRSP is country-led/owned based on broad-based participation. The workshops were one big move towards encouraging civil society to not only input into the document, but also to own the process and be part of it.

A lot of institutions are involved in the preparation of the PRSP, key among them are the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Department for International Development (DFID), PASCO, Ministries of Finance and Development and Economic Planning.

As a show of commitment to the fight against poverty, participants have formed voluntary task teams in all the districts to ensure maximum civil society participation in the formulation, development, implementation and monitoring of the PRS process and HIPC-funded projects.

It is therefore our sincere hope that the experiences and concerns raised by the people across the country will be factored in to the full PRSP.