22 U.S.C. § 262p-4h : US Code - Section 262P-4H: Discussions to increase productive economic participation of poor; reports

Search 22 U.S.C. § 262p-4h : US Code - Section 262P-4H: Discussions to increase productive economic participation of poor; reports

(a) In general
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States
Executive Director for each multilateral development bank to
vigorously and continually advocate, in all replenishment
negotiations and in discussion with other directors of such bank
and with such bank, the following:
(1) A major objective of such bank's operations and financing
in each borrowing country, as a long term priority, should be to
increase the productive role of the poor in the economy of such
country.
(2) Such bank should encourage and assist each borrowing
country to develop sustainable national plans and strategies to
eliminate the causes and alleviate the manifestations of poverty
which keep the poor from leading economically and socially
productive lives. Such plans and strategies should give attention
to -
(A) the enhancement of human resources, including programs
for basic nutrition, primary health services, basic education,
and safe water and basic sanitation;
(B) access to income-generating activities, employment, and
productive assets such as land and credit; and
(C) consultation with public sector social agencies and local
non-governmental organizations.
(3) As an integral element of ongoing policy dialogue with each
borrowing country to design structural adjustment plans and
project lending programs, such bank should provide assistance
consistent with achieving the objectives of the country's
national plan for increasing the productive economic
participation of the poor. Such dialogue should be conducted with
government agencies working in social and economic sectors and
with non-governmental groups in the borrowing country, especially
those that have grassroots involvement with poor people.
(4) In an annual review document, such bank should describe the
extent to which the goal of increasing the productive economic
participation of the poor is being advanced or retarded and the
steps that are being taken to overcome obstacles to its
fulfillment. Such review should be based on information contained
in the bank's country implementation review documents and in the
country strategy documents for each borrowing country. Such
country strategy documents should describe the national strategy
for productive economic participation of the poor and the steps
the bank plans to take to assist the borrowing country during the
period covered by the country strategy document.
(5) Such bank should assist countries in assessing and
monitoring progress in achieving poverty alleviation goals and
targets through measurement by appropriate social indicators.
(6) Such bank should adopt procedures and budgetary allocations
for administrative purposes, and establish appropriate staffing
levels, to ensure that adequate resources are available to
implement the bank's program for enhancing the productive
economic participation of the poor, in consultation with non-
governmental groups.
(7) Such bank should adopt, as a separate and major criterion
in the allocation of concessional financing resources, a
preferential allocation to each country which undertakes
significant efforts to enhance the productive economic
participation of the poor.
(8) Such bank should require each country which receives
structural adjustment assistance to have in place, after a
reasonable phase-in period, a strategy to enhance the productive
economic participation of the poor.
(b) Progress report
Before the end of the 1-year period beginning on December 19,
1989, the Secretary of the Treasury shall submit to the Committee
on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and the Committee on
Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and the Committee
on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Appropriations of the
Senate, a report on the following:
(1) The status of advocacy and progress being made to implement
the objectives of subsection (a) of this section, describing the
success to date, the obstacles encountered, and future
expectations of progress.
(2) A description of the progress to date in achieving the
purposes of section 262p-4f of this title, including the
institutional capacity and effort devoted to assisting in the
development of statistical measures to assess the well-being of
the poor.
(3) A description and evaluation of the progress to date in
developing effective mechanisms for involving non-governmental
organizations, directly or indirectly, in the design,
implementation, and monitoring of development projects, programs,
and policies of the multilateral development banks.