| AUTHOR | Aja Badame, Michela Calabrese, Verouschka Capellan, Blerta Cela and Tatiana Macio |
| ORGANIZATION | UNICEF |
| TYPE | Working Paper |
| DATE | 2005 |
| TOPIC | Child poverty and disparities |
| LANGUAGE | English |
In 1999, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund began requiring low-income countries to develop national poverty reduction strategies to receive debt relief and further concessional lending. This paper addresses how poverty reduction strategies have impacted the reduction of child poverty. Analysis collected by quantitative and qualitative research revealed that the strategies brought poverty to the forefront of the national agenda. However, they also found that impoverished children are not a priority and are sparsely included in programs and policies and that there are competing national poverty and development strategies, causing confusion. The team recommends that national priorities be set to reflect stronger linkage between policies and children's needs. Civil society and community voices must be integrated into policy formation and should be used to evaluate poverty reduction strategies to highlight local needs in the national agenda.
