Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP)

The primary objective of the PRSP process is to design a Poverty Reduction Strategy that will be implemented.  The first key element in ensuring implementation is building broad Malawian ownership of the strategy, together with consensus over the measures proposed.  However, building ownership and consensus is not as simple as holding “consultations” to validate a strategy prepared by a small number of civil servants and donors.  The second key element is to ensure that the Strategy is articulated through a realistic, detailed and costed action plan with monitorable targets.  Costing the action plan ensures that it is affordable and can be translated into the Annual Budget.  Providing targets allows all stakeholders to monitor progress and provides the basis for the annual review of the Strategy.

Overall, the process is designed to be iterative, both between Government and other stakeholders and between the Central PRSP Committee Structure and the sectoral working groups.  This will ensure that the overall Strategy is internally consistent and in line with national resource constraints, whilst providing ample opportunity for broad participation in the design of the Strategy.

To be implemented, the PRSP must be translated into the annual Budget.  Participation in the PRSP Process is therefore participation in the Budget process.  However, the full PRSP is unlikely to be ready to feed fully into the the 2001/2 Budget process.  Instead, certain key policies and strategies emerging from the PRSP process will be reflected in the 2001/2 Budget.  In future years, the full PRSP will be in place in time to form the basis for Budget preparation.

Process overview

The PRSP Process has been designed to encourage broad ownership whilst drawing on past consultations and reviews so as to avoid duplication of effort.  The process is essentially divided into three stages:

 1.      Mobilisation – explaining what the PRSP is and the process

2.      Preparation – articulation of the strategy

a.       Overall prioritisation – between sectors and issues

b.      Theme/sector prioritisation – interventions within sectors and issues

3.      Validation/dissemination – through a National Symposium

Mobilisation has largely been completed.  The key events were the Official Launch by the Right Honourable Vice President on January 11^th 2001, and the District Workshops held in early February.  Overall prioritisation has been the focus of a number of sessions.  Firstly, immediately following the Official Launch there was a discussion of overall prioritisation using the Issues Paper as a “menu of options”.  Following this, there was a half day session to discuss Sources of Growth, Setting the Balance between Social and Productive Sectors, and Changing Attitudes to Development.  In addition,  the district workshops covering each of the 27 districts focussed on discussing local peoples’ poverty reduction priorities and to raise awareness of the PRSP and the need to prioritise Government interventions given resource constraints.  Reports on the Official Launch and on the District Workshops are being prepared.

Prioritisation within themes (e.g. choosing interventions within the education sector) is being done by working groups.  Details of the themes to be addressed by the Working Groups are derived from the Issues Paper.  A list of the Working Groups is attached.  The Working Groups include representatives from relevant Government departments, donors, civil society, the private sector and parliamentary committees.  Their work builds on existing work rather than starting from scratch.  The focus is on revising existing strategy for poverty focus and consistency with the national strategy and resource constraints in devising a well-articulated and costed action plan that can be translated into the budget. 

The Working Groups are have been meeting since a briefing held on the 18^th of January 2001.  Most groups have now produced first indicative drafts which are being distributed for comments among other relevant working groups and the Technical Committee.  These comments will then be integrated into the second draft, which will again be considered by the technical committee and other groups.  After several iterations, final drafts will be produced and the Technical Committee will consolidate them into the overall PRSP.

This overall PRSP will then be the subject of the final stage in the process – that of dissemination to and validation by the stakeholders involved in its formulation.  This will be done through a National Symposium.

Institutional Structure