Monitoring Support for Commonwealth PRSP Countries

Monitoring Supports to Bangladesh’s
Poverty Reduction Strategy by the BWIs: Initial Issues

The Commonwealth Secretariat based in the UK commissioned ERG to undertake an assessment of supports provided by the development partners to Bangladesh's poverty reduction strategy. The report will be used as a background paper for discussion in the Meeting of the Commonwealth Finance Ministers, to be held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) during 13-14 September 2006. Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, Chairman, ERG, had undertaken the study, with assistance from Iftekharul Huq and Dr. Bishakha Mukherjee.

The draft report of the study was presented to a group of distinguished participants in a seminar on 5th August 2006, held jointly be the Economic Research Group and Commonwealth Secretariat. Several participants had contributed written comments on the subject, some of which are posted here, while others are being processed. The rapporteur's report will soon be posted.

There have been a great deal of interest on the subject since the media coverage of the seminar. Some of these, relevant for reaching common understanding on the subject and for developing mechanisms for ways ahead, will also be posted once the clippings are ready.

 We hope that the subject will generate enough interests to call for contributions towards developing viable rules of engagements in order to make eternal assistance more effective in promoting pro-poor development.