Making Democracy Work for Pro-Poor Development: Report by a Commonwealth Group of Experts - Softcover

Commonwealth Secretariat

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0850927811 ISBN 13: 9780850927818

Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat, 2004

Synopsis

Starting from the premise that democracy is more than simply a matter of universal suffrage and the holding of regular multiparty elections, and that development is about much more than growth of GDP, this Report focuses on how to make democracy work for pro-poor development and on development policies that in themselves uphold and promote democratic values. It argues that development and democracy are not only goals in their own right, but must also be mutually reinforcing.
Pro-poor development recognizes that people need the ‘capabilities’ to do and be the things that they have reason to value, such as being adequately nourished, having equitable access to justice and participating in decisions that affect their lives. It also recognises that development policies aimed at the general populace may have a more limited positive impact on particularly disadvantaged groups. Such groups need to be identified (for example, in terms of gender, ethnicity, religion, age or occupation) and policies need to be specifically designed for improving the lives of the poor. The Report argues that governments, the private sector, civil society and the international community each has a vital role to play in delivering development and democracy, and calls for responsibility, partnership and concrete actions from all these actors. Without responsibility on all these levels, development and democracy will remain rhetoric rather than become reality.
Prepared by the Commonwealth Expert Group on Development and Democracy at the request of the Commonwealth Heads of Government, the Report contains a number of recommendations for action at both national and international levels. It is of interest to policy-makers, multilateral and bilateral agencies, the private sector, civil society organizations and all those committed to development, democracy and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

About this title

About the Author

Dr Dirk Willem te Velde is a Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute. He leads the Investment and Growth programme, has published widely on these subjects and advises developing country governments and development agencies.

MANMOHAN SINGH, M.Pharm., PhD, has worked in the area of vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems for seventeen years and has authored over eighty-five manuscripts and review articles. Dr. Singh is on the editorial board of five international journals and has contributed several book chapters. He is a Director of Vaccine Research within Novartis Vaccines.

Jolly is Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF.

Ngaire Woods is Professor of International Political Economy, and Director of the Global Economic Governance Programme, University College, Oxford.

Review

'a valuable resource to anyone interested in education planning and policymaking in developing countries.' - Compare, Volume 40 Issue 1 2010. Compare, Volume 40 Issue 1 2010. 'An excellent book! It comes highly recommended for education researchers and teachers at the primary education stage.' - ESCalate (Read the full review at http://escalate.ac.uk/5365). ESCalate

Edition details

• Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0850927811
• ISBN 13: 9780850927818
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 130