The Political Economy of the PRSP Process Case

The Political Economy of the PRSP Process Case Studies on Education from Tanzania and Vietnam Rosa Alonso Washington October 2004

Starting point Poor government policies that were neither pro-poor nor pro-growth Poor development assistance that substituted for instead of built government and country capacity for policy development and implementation Weak accountability frameworks for both government and donors

The PRSP approach tries to increase the pro-poor focus and accountability of policy-making by affecting: The environment within which policies are being made The key actors involved in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

The policy-making environment— increasing transparency and accountability Increase in production, availability and dissemination of: Information (on government strategies, policies and institutional processes) Data (budgetary, economic, social), and Analytical reports/studies Focus on monitoring and evaluation of results For evidence-based policy-making

The role of key actors From a political economy and a historical perspective, attempting a quick change in the pro-poor focus of policy-making is a radical endeavor The only dramatic shifts in economic policy -making have historically come through: Revolution from below External forces

The role of key actors The PRSP process tries to combine both: Pressure from below—through consultations of grass-roots communities and a greater role for civil society Pressure from the outside—by the donor community and international NGO Building alliances with Govt. champions

Participation—Civil Society Participation/bringing in civil society as an attempt to make policy-making more propoor…but We should not expect civil society to be necessarily any more “representative” or representative of the interests of the poor than governments

Participation--Civil Society If the poor are the largest group, geographically disperse, with bad roads and other communications, and speak a variety of languages with no common language … And the non-poor are a smaller group, geographically-concentrated (in urban areas), with better communications and a common language…

Participation--Civil Society The best organized among civil society will be civil servants, unions, the business sector, and other nonpoor groups… And civil society (just like the government) will be heavily biased toward representing the non-poor

The “other” Civil Society--Local NGOs Connect with the grassroots Produce locally-relevant research Publicize research results Advocacy--coalition-building with: International NGOs Local research institutes Government and Donors

The “other” Civil Society-Research Institutes Provide Research on poverty issues Support to PRSP teams Capacity-building for government and civil society in-country Coalition-building--key link between government, civil society and donors Help in feedback loops between research and M&E results and policymaking

Globalization Helps International NGOs can play a key role in fostering pro-poor policies through: Research Global information and advocacy campaigns Connecting with and financing local NGOs Lobbying key actors in the North

Building Alliances with Governments Poverty Champions Part of the increased pro-poor focus should come from strengthening the position of: Social ministries “Planning” ministries Poverty units Relative to that of the traditionally most powerful units—Ministry of Finance

Changing Institutions Increasing the: Evidence based orientation Participatory nature Transparency Accountability and Pro-poor focus of Sectoral policies and budgeting processes

Creating Pro-Poor Policy Shifts— The Case of User Fees Introduction of user fees and informal contributions in primary education in 1990 s in TZ and VN Effects: Regressive and non-transparent Effectively kept poor children out of school Used as fungible funds by local government Yielding only 1% of government recurrent expenditure (TZ) Highly resented by parents

Key Factors in the Process PRSP Social discontent Policy Change Research by NGOs and Donors Governm Education Sector ent Programs awareness Commitmen Donor t in PRSP financing Entry points Education Sector Programs

Background Factors The role of research on the impact of user fees Global Education for All Initiative The PRSP process: Focus on poverty Participatory process—turning the priorities of the poor into policies Prominence given to social sector ministries and poverty units

Roles of Key Actors—Civil Society Local CSOs Connecting with the grassroots Research Publicity of research results Advocacy Northern NGOs Global information campaign against user fees (since 1999) Connecting with local NGOs Research on role and impact of fees on the poor Financing local NGOs Advocacy in the North

Key Actors in the Process--Tanzania NGO Research--1999 Studies by Aga Khan Foundation and Maarifa ni Ufunguo NGO Advocacy: Collaboration with other NGOs to ensure publicization of Maarifa ni Ufunguo’s study Amendment to US foreign appropriations bill Government—First opposed elimination; later brought around ⇒ Education Sector Development Program (with WB, DFID) Donor Financing Commitment 2000 Elections--President Mkapa’s announcement Final PRSP document – 1 October 2001

Key Actors & Factors in the Process: Vietnam Key Role of Poverty Working Group: Led by World Bank In cooperation with Vietnamese government, NGOs and other donors (DFID) Research/Advocacy—Quantitative and qualitative studies culminating in Attacking Poverty Report 1999 a key document leading to the government’s decision CPRGS consultations as the breakthrough at the policy-making level

Making it Happen--Tanzania Elimination of enrollment fee implemented in 2002 Financed by donor-supported Primary Education Development Program Result—marked increase of enrollment rate

Making it Happen--Vietnam Elimination of contributions in poorest 189 districts included in Bank-supported Education Sector Program, but… CPRGS one of several long-term planning documents used by the Vietnamese authorities Decentralization means great leeway of local authorities in implementing (or not) CPRGS commitment Financing. Elimination of contributions poses a financial challenge

Lessons Learned—Importance of: Applied research (quantitative and qualitative) Cooperation b/n NGOs, donors and government IFI influence: The PRSP process The EFA initiative Importance of availability of financing

Lessons Learned (cont. ) Key Role of civil society in: Raising concerns of the poor to the policy level Providing qualitative and quantitative research Raising awareness Identifying and lobbying key players Coalition-building--international and North/South Rising influence of poverty units and social ministries in national policy making Challenges to PRSP implementation in decentralized settings

Lessons Learned on PRSP Process To ensure sustainability, key actors in implementation stage need to be involved: In TZ, all key actors on board— implementation not a problem In VN, Mo. F and local governments not on board--questionability of implementation

Lessons learned— institutionalization of PRSP process key Key actors in PRSP process (e. g. , communities, civil society, poverty units, social ministries) Key principles of PRSP process: Evidence-based policy-making Participation and transparency Pro-Poor Focus Donor alignment Need to be institutionalized in implementation phase