[afro-nets] A New Equity Agenda?

["Claudio Schuftan" <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

A New Equity Agenda?
--------------------

Cross-posted EQUIDAD@LISTSERV.PAHO.ORG

Is this the way academics see it...?

Claudio

Key issues and questions 

Inequality is therefore a key issue in debates about achieving the 
MDGs. Nevertheless, there are still important issues which need to be 
resolved before one can design sensible and effective policies for 
addressing inequality. These issues are highlighted by three main 
questions: 

* which inequalities matter? 
* what drives inequalities, and how can they be affected by policy? 
* which specific policy instruments work best where? 

Which inequalities matter? 
Like poverty, inequality can exist in a range of dimensions (e.g. 
income, life expectancy, mortality, education). One needs to first ask 
which inequalities matter, and of those that matter, which matter most. 

This paper was written as a background paper for a roundtable 
discussion on 'Equity and Development' held at the Overseas Development 
Institute on 31 March 2006 

A New Equity Agenda?

Reflections on the 2006 World Development Report, the 2005 Human 
Development Report and the 2005 Report on the World Social Situation

Edward Anderson and Tammie O'Neil
Overseas Development Institute, Working Paper 265, April 2006
London, UK

Available online as PDF file [37p.] at: http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp265.pdf 

"..In terms of implications for policy-makers in governments and 
national organisations, the paper has three main conclusions. 

- The first is that there are good reasons for placing more emphasis on 
equity, and related concepts such as social justice and fairness, as 
policy objectives - in addition to, or as a broader concept which 
includes, the elimination of absolute deprivation. 

- The second is that, although making equity a more explicit policy 
objective does not require a fundamentally different approach to 
development policy, it does require that governments and donors do some 
things they are not doing now, and some things they are already doing, 
but doing then differently. 

- The third is that the institutional inequalities at the core of 
'inequality traps' reflect political disparities that are historically rooted and therefore persistent. 
However, even within this institutional landscape, there are 
opportunities for social actors to negotiate, to strategically manage 
reform processes and to build coalitions for pro-equity change. Donors 
will need to invest in political analysis in order to support these 
processes.

A final point is that the main focus of the paper is on inequalities 
within countries.."

Contents

1 Introduction 
2 Do Inequalities Matter for Development and If So Why? 
2.1 Arguments from WDR 2006, HDR 2005 and RWSS 2005 
2.2 Comparison with existing arguments 
2.3 Discussion 
2.3.1 The focus on equity 
2.3.2 The definition of equity 
2.3.3 Additional instrumental and intrinsic arguments 
3 Policies for Addressing Inequality 
4 Politics, Implementation and the Role of External Agencies 18
4.1 Political economy and pro-poor reform 
4.2 Strategies for policy change in WDR 2006, HDR 2005 and RWSS 2005 
4.3 Strategies for pro-equity change? 
4.3.1 Extending institutional analysis 
4.3.2 Recognising the role of elite reformers 
4.3.3 Recognising the importance of alliances for change 
4.3.4 What role for donors? 
References 
Annexes

--
Claudio Schuftan
mailto:claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn