• PRSP critique

PRSP critique

Indigenous and tribal peoples represent about 5 per cent of the world's population, but over 15 per cent of the world's poor. The incidence of extreme poverty is higher among them than among other social groups and they generally benefit much less than others from overall declines in poverty. This paper reports on an ethnic "audit" of 14 PRSPs (poverty reduction strategy papers) in 14 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Its goal is to ascertain whether and how the rights, needs and aspirations of indigenous and tribal peoples have been taken into account and whether they have been involved in the consultations leading to the formation of the PRSPs.

The main findings of the report include:

• there are significant differences between and within regions and between countries, in terms of whether and how indigenous and tribal questions are addressed:
  • the African PRSPs are beginning to recognise, to varying degrees, that large-scale cultivation and irrigation, national boundaries, tourism and the establishment of nature and game reserves are undermining the freedom of movement to hunt and graze livestock over large areas of land and access to water, which is essential for pastoralists
  • Asian PRSPs swing from neglect, such as Sri Lanka, or passing attention to the social, economic and political exclusion of tribal peoples, as in Pakistan, to a genuine concern for the unequal development of these peoples relative to other social groups, as in Nepal or Vietnam
  • in Latin America, PRSPs clearly identify the areas that are key to indigenous peoples' development - however the relative size of indigenous populations in a country determines whether an ethnic mainstreaming approach is pursued or targeted interventions are promoted.
• there is a lack of indigenous-specific indicators in most developing countries
• the nature of many PRSPs reflect an understanding of poverty primarily in terms of material deprivation, and as a state rather than in terms of powerlessness and vulnerability linked to systemic discrimination
• with a few Latin American exceptions, indigenous and tribal peoples have not been involved in consultations leading to the formulation of the PRSPs
• a few PRSPs recognise that indigenous or tribal peoples' disadvantages have a strong political dimension and are linked to their inadequate political representation within government
• only a few PRSPs examine the gender dimensions of indigenous or tribal poverty - gender aspects are generally addressed separately from the status and needs of indigenous and tribal men and women
• only a couple of PRSPs mainstream indigenous and tribal issues and address them consistently throughout.

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