WRITTEN QUESTION E-1759/99

by Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(1 October 1999)

Subject: Commission policy (DG VIII) on combating poverty in developing countries

In his written answers to the EP questionnaire, the Commission Member responsible for development, Mr Nielson, asserted that overcoming poverty had to be at the centre of our efforts.

Can the Commission provide more detailed information on current and future strategies to combat poverty in developing countries, covering the following aspects in particular:

1. What operational areas are covered by DG VIII policy on combating poverty (e.g. basic education, training, health, infrastructures, in particular water supply, sewerage and roads, social security systems, food supply, etc)?

2. Is a distinction being made between direct and indirect operations to combat poverty (macroeconomic measures, institutional consultation, policy consultation, etc)?

3. What departments within DG VIII are responsible for organising operations to combat poverty, and how is the organising unit staffed?

4. What was the amount of the appropriations made available to DG VIII over the last five years for financing operations to combat poverty?

5. Can the Commission specify how many of those living in poverty can be shown to have benefited from direct operations to combat poverty in the last five years (under what programmes or projects, and in which countries)?

6. Do the claims made in the March 1999 DAC Scoping Study of Donor Poverty Reduction Policies and Practices, to the effect that both the definition of efforts to combat poverty and the policies and practices implemented in doing so ought to be completely overhauled, also apply to DG VIII?

7. Have any impact studies been conducted to determine the success of direct operations to combat poverty, and how were such operations assessed by people living in poverty themselves?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(16 November 1999)

1. The Community approach to poverty reduction was set out in the communication of 1993(1), and this was reviewed in a working paper presented to Council in May 1998(2). Poverty reduction is the goal of all operations. Up to the present poverty reduction has been directly approached through support to basic social services, including through the use of counterpart funds arising from structural adjustment support. However, this strategy has to be developed further, by systematically mainstreaming poverty reduction into all sectors. An action plan is presently being considered that will set out guidelines and performance indicators, taking account of the results of a development assistance committee (DAC) working group on this issue. A new policy document on food security and poverty reduction is under preparation. In the health sector, a recent expert meeting agreed to set up a working group on the issue of health and poverty reduction. Further work is also taking place on rural development, environment, and education to bring policies more clearly into line with the objective of poverty reduction.

2. Since no formal distinction has been made up to the present, there are planned changes to the identification sheet for programmes which should make it possible to differentiate direct poverty reduction approaches from indirect approaches.

3. All staff in the Directorate general for development are responsible for reaching this objective. However the Directorate for sustainable development strategies is formally charged with ensuring that the aim is systematically addressed at all levels. This directorate has five units. One unit (Social, human and cultural development; and gender) has been particularly concerned. However, means to strengthen the capacity in this area is being considered, with, among other innovations, focal points in other units, a help desk to support operations directly.

4. A recent staff estimate is that spending on basic health and education services for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is about 20 %, in line with the commitment of Copenhagen in 1995. In 1997, payments in the European development fund (EDF) on all social infrastructures and services, including government and civil society were 196 million (16 %), and structural adjustment support, mainly for social services, was 222 million (18 %). Other programmes in water supplies, finance, rural development, food security and transport also contributed to poverty reduction, but it is difficult to estimate the proportion that directly contributed to poverty reduction without a detailed investigation.

5. No donor agency can give an estimate on the impact their operations have on poverty reduction. Therefore the Commission is presently contributing to a working group within the DAC to resolve this problem, having suggested a possible methodology for a better grasp of the impact of operations on the reduction of poverty. This methodology tries to capture both qualitative and quantitative data on poverty and link this to the actual operations being undertaken. It will be discussed in a DAC evaluation working group in Edinburgh on 13-14 October 1999, after which it will be decided how to develop this methodology.

6. The study found that the 1993 policy on poverty reduction remained valid, but that more effort was needed on implementation. This reflected the Commission's own working paper of 1998. The Commission is now actively participating in the DAC working group that is overhauling its approach, with the intention of producing guidelines by June 2000.

7. This is the intention of the methodology being developed, as it brings together poor people's own assessments with data from other sources. A pilot test was undertaken in Burkina Faso that confirmed the validity of the methodology. The test, however, was not intended as a full impact study of operations in Burkina Faso since there were several technical issues to resolve the weight to be given to indirect and direct operations, the links between qualitative and quantitative data, and attribution of the results to operations or other external factors among others.

(1) COM(93) 518 final.

(2) Doc. 8541/98, 12.5.1998.