APDIP e-Note 2 on Poverty Reduction and ICT

With the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit +5 coming up in September and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in November, it is timely for developmental agencies to revisit some of the key issues and developments that have taken place in the integration of information and communication technologies (ICT) within the larger scheme of national developmental policies.

This note examines the treatment of ICT in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) of Asia-Pacific countries. PRSPs serve as a good starting point because they direct the focus of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) concessional lending. Countries have more incentive to prioritize their development needs rather than produce a laundry list of reforms. Although only eight countries in the region have completed PRSPs (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Viet Nam), the results in relation to the use on ICT were revealing and insightful.

There is a clear demonstration by governments that ICT can effectively help alleviate poverty, although the manner in which it is used varies. All eight countries have plans to develop ICT as a sector and use ICT as tools to achieve other PRSP goals in education, health, employment, monitoring poverty, disseminating information, facilitating government services, and disaster management. Across the board, countries are planning to develop management information systems to improve public sector governance and service delivery. Many governments also used ICT to disseminate information on health, government programs, employment opportunities, and disaster relief efforts. Efforts that incorporate ICT on the ground generally fall into the categories of education and increasing market access. Mongolia has the most comprehensive program to integrate ICT into the education system. Overall, Mongolia, Cambodia, and Lao PDR have outlined the most concrete actions of using ICT in their poverty alleviation strategies.

While examining PRSPs was a useful starting point, it is important to keep in mind that PRSPs by themselves do not translate policy into concrete action. Countries need a combination of national strategy, political will, financial resources, and technical capacity to properly use ICT as tools for poverty alleviation. PRSPs are a good indicator of the direction the government hopes to progress. The next step would be to look at substantive indicators to evaluate actual progress.

APDIP e-Notes are brief snapshots that present analyses of specific issues related to ICT for sustainable human development in the Asia-Pacific region. This online series introduces readers to the who, what, where, why and how of a wide range of current issues related to ICT such as Internet governance, ICT and poverty alleviation, e-governance, free and open source software, and many others.

Related Links

APDIP e-Note 2 - Do Governments Actually Believe that ICT Can Help Alleviate Poverty? A perspective from Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers [PDF, 107kB]

APDIP e-Note 6 – ICTs for Poverty Reduction: Necessary but insufficient

Extract of ICT-Related Content from Poverty Reducation Strategy Papers in the Asia-Pacific Region [PDF, 475kB]

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