NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 46

by Francis Akindès 
Bern, NCCR North-South 2012

In 2000 the Ivorian government committed to achieving the MDGs. In 1997 it had already determined strategic areas for combating poverty according to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers process. These economic reforms were undertaken in the hope of partial debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. From 2002-2011, 3 severe socio-political crises hampered Côte d’Ivoire’s growth. Reports show that the results achieved in the fight against poverty are not conclusive after 10 years of poverty reduction strategies and economic reforms referred to as “pro-poor”. This report shows 1) how the armed conflict weakened the state’s capacity to finance its commitments, 2) how the logic of the government’s action in favour of poverty reduction was inspired more by the prospect of eligibility for the HIPC initiative than by its commitment to the MDGs; and 3) how this framing of economic reforms reduced the power of the state to initiate truly endogenous poverty reduction strategies.

Akindès F. 2012. Côte d’Ivoire: State-driven Poverty Reduction in a Context of Crisis—Navigating Between MDG Constraints and Debt Relief. NCCR North-South Dialogue 46 (Working Paper, Special Research Project 4 – Beyond the MDGs). Bern, Switzerland: NCCR North-South.

Language
English

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