Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction: From Lessons Learned to Policy Action, 29-30 September 2004 at OECD Headquarters

22/09/2004 - Prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve poverty by 2015 are gloomy and new instruments and ideas are urgently needed. Can decentralisation fight poverty? The answer is: "maybe". The Organisation's Development Centre and its Development Co-operation Directorate (DAC Network on Governance) are bringing together leading experts, practitioners, policy makers and NGO representatives to discuss the conditions under which the transfer of power from the central level to the regional and local level will most benefit the poor.
 
Policy makers and donor countries have studied decentralisation policies from all over the world, and have found that they can lead to a variety of unforeseen results. One example is India,  w here the failure of  the decentralisation process in some states has contributed to the disenchantment of voters in rural and poor areas and contributed to the defeat of the former government. Post-conflict African countries have experienced increased corruption, disinvestment in public goods and increasing regional disparities as a result of devolving powers too quickly away from the central state. There are lessons here which could be particularly relevant for the current proposed governance changes in Iraq, Afghanistan and other poor, unstable countries where decentralisation seems to be a progress for democracy.
 
This meeting, which begins at 9:30 on Wednesday 29 September, is open to journalists, and will take place at the Prospects of achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve poverty by 2015 are gloomy and new instruments and ideas are urgently needed. Can decentralisation fight poverty? The answer is: "maybe". The Organisation's Development Centre and its Development Co-operation Directorate (DAC Network on Governance) are bringing together leading experts, practitioners, policy makers and NGO representatives to discuss the conditions under which the transfer of power from the central level to the regional and local level will most benefit the poor.
 
Policy makers and donor countries have studied decentralisation policies from all over the world, and have found that they can lead to a variety of unforeseen results. One example is India,  w here the failure of  the decentralisation process in some states has contributed to the disenchantment of voters in rural and poor areas and contributed to the defeat of the former government. Post-conflict African countries have experienced increased corruption, disinvestment in public goods and increasing regional disparities as a result of devolving powers too quickly away from the central state. There are lessons here which could be particularly relevant for the current proposed governance changes in Iraq, Afghanistan and other poor, unstable countries where decentralisation seems to be a progress for democracy.
 
This meeting, will take place at the OECD Headquarters, 19 Rue Franqueville, in Paris, and which begins at 9:30 on Wednesday 29 September, is open to journalists, who are invited to register with Colm Foy, in the OECD Development Centre (tel. + 33 1  45 24 84 80). Further information can also be found at www.oecd.org/dev/decentralisation