Policies and strategies for poverty reduction in Norwegian development aid: a review

Paper provides an overview of Norwegian policiesand strategies for poverty reduction. It assesses Norway’s development aid policy in light of the renewed international donor emphasis on poverty and the ambition of assisting in reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty by 50% by the year 2015.

The first part examines Norway’s poverty reduction goals, conceptions and approaches, as reflected in policy documents and by aid policy officials. The second part discusses the management of Norwegian development assistance for poverty reduction, especially related to “mainstreaming” and operationalisation. The final part offers a review of how Norway interprets and implements its overall poverty reduction objective in two of Norway’s long-standing priority countries, Bangladesh and Tanzania.

It identifies several issues which must be addressed if poverty reduction are to be further sharpened and mainstreamed in Norway’s development aid. This includes

• operational guidelines for improved poverty focus in all sectors and interventions
• increased poverty awareness among staff
• assistance to operational personnel in improving planning and implementation of poverty reduction interventions
• and more attention to monitoring of poverty reduction performance and the effectiveness of interventions

A strong message and commitment from the top management and political leaders are important to encourage and develop skills and attitudes throughout the organisation.

The final part of the report reviews how Norway’s interprets and operationalises its overall development objective of poverty reduction in Bangladesh and Tanzania. The approach towards poverty issue in these two countries is very different, even though there are parallel features. In both countries Norway practices its policy of promoting greater recipient responsibility. This includes efforts to strengthen institutions playing an important role in contributing to poverty reduction. In Tanzania the main and overall emphasis is on economic recovery and institutional improvement, while in Bangladesh the overall emphasis is on enabling their national institutions to provide basic services. In both countries Norway also supports non-governmental organisations which are involved in empowering weak and underprivileged groups. The productive sectors seem to be the most problematic sector in both countries in terms of contributing to poverty reduction. It has not been easy to identify ways and means to promote “pro-poor” economic growth and production [author]