Coordination and implementation of Anti-poverty strategies

This research paper analyzes the issue of governance in relation to Poverty Reduction Strategies. The focus is on the Paraguayan Political-Institutional framework within which poverty reduction strategies are implemented. Since the year 2003 the Paraguayan government has designed and implemented three different Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (ENALP 2003-2008 period. PPDS 2008-2013 and currently the “Sembrando Oportunidades” Program 2013-2018) with different rates of poverty reduction but with the same (more or less) institutional framework. The focus of the research is not on the outcomes of the Poverty Reduction Strategies, but on the results of the interaction between the coordination scheme and the institutional framework for the implementation of these strategies. This aspect of governance, has important implications for the success or failure of these anti-poverty strategies. In this study I will analyze: a) how is composed the institutional framework at the coordination and implementation level of the SO Program b) how the different government agencies interact, coordinate, and implement the programs in the anti-poverty strategy and c) examine the resource allocation among these institutions and its impacts in the implementation of the PRSP.