Accra's Poverty Reduction Strategy Faulted

A coalition of groups, individuals and organisations committed to promoting women's rights, Network for Women's Rights (Netright) has criticised the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) describing it as seriously flawed taken into consideration its conception, content and process which could not address the numerous problems confronting the poor in society.

The coalition further stated that the GPRSP has filed in its purpose at addressing gender dimensions of poverty and the propose strategies that are gender friendly and sensitive.

This, the coalition sees as problematic in view of the widespread and undisputed inter-relationships that existed between gender and poverty.

It has therefore called for a reopening of a debate at addressing the problem of poverty in the country and a review of the microeconomic framework focused on poverty and committed to promoting gender equity in policies and strategies for development in the country.

Theses views were expressed by the coalition at a one-day seminar organised by Netright for its members on the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (GPRSP) in Accra.

The assertion comes in the wake of the pursuance of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) adopted by Ghana under the influence of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which sought to reduce poverty level of the country, two decades ago.

In essence, the coalition viewed the fact that Ghana went ahead to introduce an Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) for the period 2000-2002 to ensure a poverty-focused initiative in itself indicates the failure of the SAPs and its neo-liberal policies that were operational under the programme which pushed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government into accessing the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in March this year.

According to the coalition, the PRSPs established as a result of effort of several well-coordinated campaigns against the international financial institutions over the shaping of destinies of millions of people in the "so-called" less developed countries have become favoured tools of the IMF and World Bank in their anti-poverty agenda.

The anti-poverty agenda mooted by the world financial super powers, the coalition noted has introduced hash policies and programmes that undermine the future of poor people in the world over.

This, in its observations has led to anti-debt campaigners argued for unconditional debt cancellation and total eradication of poverty in society.

In her presentation, the Deputy Director of the Institute of African Studies, Prof. Takyiwaa Manuh, a gender activist and Convenor of Netright noted that in situations where growth has occurred, there has not been any developments in terms of poverty alleviation since the household, used as the main unit of analysis cover up gender difference and disparities within the household.

Furthermore she observed that, even-though the World financial super powers seems to be listening to people, people are still not informed about what they do in respect of alleviating poverty from the society adding that the SAP document lacks gender issues which they are intended to be promoting.

In his presentation, Mr. Akoto Ampaw, Coordinator, Jubilee 2000, Ghana was of the view that, poverty reduction should not be an idea worth fighting for and for that matter, governments and civil society should ignore the idea adding that, the flews in the document could be changed through the mobilisation of human ideas.

He however noted that the poverty reduction strategy paper does not argue out the causes of poverty and therefore the paper is a hue defection of what it is meant for.

The document he noted is a hoax since it is not conducive to changes if it does not address the needs of the people.

He therefore called on civil society to protest against the PRSP, which he observed is not in the language of the poor who invariably does not know what the document is about.