More than two-thirds of the world’s poor people live in the Asian and Pacific region.
UNESCAP, through a blend of research and operational activities, analyses, tests, documents and disseminates good and innovative policies and practices in poverty reduction and shares that knowledge and advice with its members.
UNESCAP provides practical assistance in adapting and replicating proven good practices and programmes in poverty reduction that target the most vulnerable groups in society, including women.
UNESCAP monitors and analyses global, regional and sub-regional economic and social trends and development issues that have an impact on poverty levels.
UNESCAP also works to strengthen the statistical infrastructure in countries of the region and helps them monitor their progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
ADB's Enhanced Proverty Reduction Strategy (EPRS) comprises three pillars:
1. Pro-poor sustainable economic growth means that environmentally sound, consistent economic growth can benefit the poor, with prudent macroeconomic management and projects that increase employment, boost productivity, target the poor, raise incomes, and promote regional economic cooperation.
2. Inclusive social development involves increasing human capacity and capability, implementing sound population policies, building social capital, ensuring gender equality, and applying social protection.
3. Good governance supports sound macroeconomic management, pro-poor policies, government accountability, public participation, a predictable legal framework, transparency, and anticorruption initiatives.
The three pillars are supplemented by five thematic priorities:
1. private sector development 2. gender and development 3. environmental sustainability 4. regional cooperation 5. capacity development
The EPRS refines strategic directions for poverty reduction. It stresses greater country focus, to align ADB operations with a developing member country's own poverty reduction strategy, and fosters partnerships around that strategy. It also calls for increased attention to results, monitoring and evaluation, and greater emphasis on capacity development.
JICA uses an array of development assistance schemes to meet the diverse needs of developing countries around the world.
Among the available schemes offered that are related to poverty alleviation are:
A. GRANT AID
Grant aid is a form of ODA involving the provision of funds to the governments of developing countries without the obligation of repayment. The aim is to cooperate with economic and social development by helping the government of the recipient country to introduce and upgrade its facilities and equipment. The main categories of grant aid are:
(1) General grants:
General project grants (including grants for child welfare, afforestation, rehabilitation, support for human resources development bases, anti-personnel mine clearance, Soft Component Support and clean energy), debt relief grants, non-project grants (including sector program grants for environment and social development), overseas students' grants, and grassroots projects grants;
(2) Fisheries grants;
(3) Cultural grants (including grants for cultural properties);
(4) Emergency grants (support for disaster relief, democratization, and reconstruction and development);
(5) Food aid (Kennedy Round [KR] );
(6) Aid for increased food production (2nd Kennedy Round [2KR] ).
Of these categories of grant aid, JICA deals with general project grants and overseas students' grants, fisheries grants, cultural grants, food aid, and aid for increased food production.
JICA's work includes: (1) prior studies as part of technical cooperation to the recipient country to check on the content of requests for grant aid, the scale of the project, and the approximate costs; (2) supervision aimed at ensuring that a grant aid project begun after the signing and exchange of an intergovernmental agreement (Exchange of Notes (E/N)) is being executed according to the E/N and the supply guidelines; and (3) follow-up to maintain and enhance the effects of a project.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides the funds for grant aid cooperation projects.
The grant aid budget has been increased to deal with global issues such as poverty and the environment. Aimed at responding to diversifying needs in developing countries and at providing aid more effectively, grants are being provided in areas such as child welfare, afforestation, antipersonnel mine clearance, human resources development bases, and rehabilitation. As well as creating links with technical cooperation and loan aid, JICA is working effectively on projects in collaboration with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), the WHO (World Health Organization), and other international agencies, donors, and NGOs.
B. TECHNICAL COOPERATION PROJECT
Technical cooperation projects are one of JICA's main types of overseas activities.
They are results-oriented, with Japan and a developing country pooling their knowledge, experience, and skills to resolve specific issues within a certain timeframe. The projects may involve the dispatching of experts from Japan to provide technical support, invitation of personnel from developing countries for training, or the provision of necessary equipment.
After receiving a request from a developing country, JICA adopts various cooperation approaches (cooperation tools). In order to achieve the objective of promoting development, JICA determines how to combine these cooperation tools, how long they will be implemented, and how to time them for the most effective and efficient results.
Technical cooperation project are implemented according to the plan made through consultations with the recipient country. In order to address each problem so that a broad range of needs of developing countries can be met effectively and efficiently, cooperation plans are tailor-made and implemented jointly with the recipient country.
C. DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Development studies are part of JICA’s technical cooperation which support the formulation of plans for public projects that are beneficial to social and economic development in developing countries. They can also transfer planning methods, and survey and analytical skills to counterparts in the recipient countries. Skills transferred in this way are utilized when recipient countries work on projects and carry out other studies with their own funds.
These reports, prepared on the basis of study results, provide recipient governments with data for assessing their social and economic development policies. They may also offer international organizations and donor countries resources for studying the need for financial aid and technical cooperation. In many cases, plans proposed in these reports have been realized with financial assistance, such as loan and grant aid.
Recently, the number of projects that incorporate direct policy proposals has been increasing, revealing a trend that should open up a new phase for development studies.
The World Bank Group offers a limited number of grants to facilitate development projects. The grants are designed to encourage innovation, co-operation between organizations and to increase the participation in projects of local stakeholders.
The grants are either funded directly or managed through partnerships. Listed below are the range of mechanisms through which the Bank distributes grants.
Among the grants offered are:
1. Development Marketplace Early stage seed funding is provided to entrepreneurs with poverty fighting ideas to promote their development projects. Entrepreneurs are linked with partners that have the resources to help them implement their proposals.
2. Global Environment Facility (GEF) An international mechanism for providing new and additional grants to achieve global environmental benefits in climate change, biodiversity, international waters and ozone-layer depletion.
3. InfoDev A global program managed by the Bank to promote innovative applications of information and communication technologies to improve the living standards of low-income communities in developing countries. The program pools intellectual, technical, and financial resources of public and private institutions from across the globe to assist promising projects and initiatives.
4. Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund (PHRD) The Fund's objectives are to reduce poverty in developing countries by funding social development activities like improvements to education, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and social protection. Grants can also be awarded to enhance the participation of civil society, promote the role of and increase innovative use of information technology.
5. Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) is a grant facility established by the Japanese Government and the World Bank in June 2000. The $95 million fund assists countries the World Bank works with to effectively tackle the poverty and social consequences that resulted from the 1997 - 1999 global economic and financial crises.
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