Debt and aid

For all developing countries, the amount of aid they receive and how it is spent is a critical part of their efforts to reduce poverty.

Oxfam has been working since it was first established to draw attention to crises that demand immediate international attention and humanitarian aid. It has also worked hard to encourage donor governments and international organisations such as the World Bank, IMF and United Nations, to make sure they spend their aid effectively - really targeting the poorest groups in society - and do not neglect countries and peoples in desperate need.

Today, international discussions focus on what is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - a set of targets to reduce poverty and disease in developing countries, and instead improve the health, education, environmental sustainability and rights of everyone across the world.

These goals were agreed by world leaders in 2000, but already they are seriously off track and without everyone pressing for trade reform, increased aid and debt relief, and policies that really focus on improving the lives of the poor, the goals will not be met.

Oxfam has also been working for many years to reduce third world debt. We were part of the original Jubilee 2000 campaign. We welcomed the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) that was agreed by the World Bank and IMF and their shareholders in 1999, as a means to decrease debts.

However, we continue to campaign for more debt relief and reform HIPC to ensure countries have sufficient resources to reduce poverty and improve the lives of their people.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)

As part of the HIPC process, countries have been required to produce Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) - consulting with civil society prior to drawing up their plans for poverty reduction.

The PRSP approach has now been extended to all low-income countries, and has become a key point of discussion between countries, the WB and IMF, and donors on how best to reduce poverty.

Progress on the PRSPs has been mixed: some PRSPs are markedly different from previous government plans and place much more emphasis on poverty reduction and on including the views of those outside the government; others seem to be dominated by the views of the governments alone, or even of the World Bank and IMF.

Oxfam has been working hard with local partners and marginalised groups to ensure their voices are heard and that their needs are addressed in the PRSPs. We have been calling for Poverty and Social Impact Assessments (PSIAs) that look at the most controversial proposals for reform, prior to the agreement of a PRSP, to ensure there is an open and transparent debate on all the issues involved. Its an on-going process of reform and we continue to lobby governments, donors, the World Bank and IMF.