OECD Guidance on Reducing Poverty and Inequalities through Development Co‑operation

Reader’s guide

Scope

This Guidance is intended to support a systematic and intentional focus on poverty and inequalities within development co‑operation. It is addressed primarily to development partners – understood as bilateral and multilateral development co-operation providers. It provides direction on overall approaches, priorities and ways of working – grounded in evidence and good practice – to help them integrate considerations of poverty and inequalities more effectively into their strategies, policies and programmes across diverse contexts. Where relevant, it offers concrete entry points and tools to support this integration in practice. It is not, however, prescriptive, nor does it serve as a detailed policy toolkit or operational manual for day‑to‑day development interventions.

The Policy Highlights: OECD Guidance on Reducing Poverty and Inequalities through Development Co-operation is a shorter companion publication, providing a high-level overview of its main findings. It can be found in the Guidance’s .

Terminology

This Guidance uses a set of terms that reflect an inclusive understanding of development co-operation – one that acknowledges existing power imbalances, upholds the agency of all actors involved and is aligned with the principles of equitable partnerships and shared responsibility. Throughout this Guidance:

• Development partners is used instead of donors, reflecting the collaborative relationships that underpin effective development co‑operation and the diversity of actors involved.

• Partner countries is used in place of recipients or beneficiaries, to underscore countries as active partners in shaping their development pathways rather than passive recipients of external support.

• Official development assistance (ODA) and development co‑operation are generally used instead of aid, recognising however that the term aid remains widely used in policy and practice.

• People experiencing or facing poverty and/or inequalities is used instead of labels such as the poor or the vulnerable to avoid stigmatising or derogatory language, to uphold dignity and to reflect the structural, temporal and contextual nature of poverty and inequalities. Beneficiaries is also avoided.

• Marginalised groups is used over vulnerable groups, recognising that exclusion often results from systemic inequalities rather than inherent vulnerability.

  Audience

This Guidance and the accompanying Policy Highlights are intended primarily for bilateral and multilateral development partners and can be used for different purposes across contexts. They may also be of interest to a broader range of actors engaged in development co-operation. The table below presents suggested uses and sections of potential interest for different actors.

 

Audience	Suggested usage	Sections of potential interest
Primary audience
Senior public officials and policymakers (in development partner institutions)	Use to review and shape institutional strategies, set poverty and inequality reduction priorities, and inform policy dialogue with other development stakeholders.	Policy highlights Chapter 2 (Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3) Chapter 3
Practitioners (in development partner institutions)	Use as a reference when designing interventions, engaging in partnerships, and monitoring and evaluating programmes to ensure poverty and inequality considerations are embedded throughout the programming cycle.	Chapter 1 Chapter 2 (Sections 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4) Chapter 3 (Sections 3.2 and 3.3) Chapter 4 Chapter 5
Secondary audience
Partner country governments and local authorities	Use to inform engagement with development partners, including to advocate for development co-operation approaches that align with national poverty and inequality reduction strategies.	Chapter 3 Chapter 4 (Section 4.1)
Civil society actors	Use to hold development partners accountable to poverty and inequality reduction commitments and to make the case for greater focus on marginalised groups in programme design and resource allocation.	Chapter 4 (Section 4.2 and 4.3)
Private sector actors	Use to understand expectations around inclusive and equitable approaches when engaging in development co-operation and to identify how private sector activities can contribute to poverty and inequality reduction goals.	Chapter 3 (Section 3.3)
Academics	Use to identify gaps in evidence and practice, and to orient research towards the policy and operational questions most relevant to poverty and inequality reduction in development co-operation.	All, but particularly Section 5.1
Philanthropy	Use to inform engagement and complementarity with other development partners on poverty and inequality reduction.	All, but particularly Section 3.4
Implementing partners	Use when implementing development co-operation programmes to strengthen alignment with poverty and inequality reduction objectives.	All

Approach to differentiating between poverty and inequalities

Throughout this Guidance, the terms “poverty” and “inequalities” are often used together, reflecting their strong interconnections and the fact that they are frequently addressed jointly within development co-operation. At the same time, they are distinct concepts encompassing multiple dimensions, which may operate through diverse mechanisms and affect groups differently (see Chapter 1). The scope of the Guidance is deliberately high level – focusing on broader principles, policy considerations and approaches rather than detailed guidance on each specific dimension. Specific examples are used throughout to illustrate how different aspects may be addressed in practice across a wide range of development co‑operation settings and are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.

Note on country ownership within the scope of this Guidance

This Guidance is addressed to development partners; it does not seek to set out policy advice to partner country governments or other development stakeholders. It reflects a dual aim. First, it supports inclusive country ownership: where possible, development partners are encouraged to align behind partner government-led poverty and inequality reduction priorities, use country systems and favour modalities that strengthen rather than substitute for government capacities and institutions. In line with a whole-of-society approach, it also underscores the importance of engaging non-state actors as legitimate partners and acknowledges that, in some contexts, government priorities may not reflect the needs of people experiencing marginalisation, requiring careful navigation. Second, recognising that in practice many development partners continue to play a significant role in shaping programme design and implementation, this Guidance aims to meet them where they are – helping ensure that however support is structured, whether through country-driven budget support or development partner-driven interventions, it contributes as effectively as possible to poverty and inequality reduction.