Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 15 of 15 BACK | NEXT Executive Summary I. An Analytical Framework II. Regional Experiences III. Policy Actions to Help Poor People Gain from Globalized Markets A. Actions by developed countries B. Actions by Developing and Transition Countries C. Actions by International Institutions

Global Poverty Reduction 2001 : III. Policy Actions to Help Poor People Gain from Globalized Markets

---

C. Actions by International Institutions

64. A first area where development finance institutions and aid agencies can assist client countries is in the design and implementation of pro-poor reform programs that make trade an engine for faster growth and poverty reduction. This requires support for both reductions in border barriers and improvements in the domestic macroeconomic and investment climate, infrastructure and technology, as well as knowledge and skills. This support should be based on country-owned poverty reduction strategies that lay out priority actions and areas of intervention.

65. In addition to helping integrate trade policies into the broader pro-poor development agenda, development finance institutions can assist countries in identifying the effects of reforms on the poor. This would help select the best options to combine growth and antipoverty policies among alternatives, and set in place or strengthen social safety nets and other mechanisms that address associated adjustments costs, especially when these costs fall on the poor or would cause previously non-poor groups to fall into poverty.

66. The Integrated Framework for the Least Developed Countries aims to increase the overall capacity of LDCs to respond to the opportunities afforded by the world trading system by improving the effectiveness of trade-related technical assistance. As part of efforts to invigorate the framework, six United Nations agencies⁵ are working together in a pilot scheme to help several LDCs integrate trade and related assistance into their development and poverty reduction strategies. The framework should receive full support from participating agencies and the international aid community.

67. The international community should also encourage the WTO to make the accession process quicker and more transparent. Countries acceding to the WTO are expected to undertake a broad spectrum of reforms that require wide-ranging analyses, call for institutional strengthening, and possibly entail substantial costs. Poor countries may not be able to meet these costs, nor the cost of bringing disputes to the WTO. To help with the WTO accession process, the framework calls for providing technical assistance to LDCs.

68. Regional development finance institutions play an important role in assisting regional integration not only in terms of trade liberalization, but also in building capacities and networking countries in various subregional groupings. The regional orientation and membership of these development finance institutions provide a focused forum to discuss and arrive at regional agreements as intermediate steps in the process of global integration.

____________________

Back B. Actions by Developing and Transition Countries	Global Poverty Reduction 2001