Poverty reduction and pro-poor growth : the role of empowerment / Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Includes bibliographical references.

Foreword -- Acronyms and abbreviations -- Executive summary -- Policy guidance note : the role of empowerment for poverty reduction and growth -- Empowerment of poor rural people through initiatives in agriculture and natural resource management -- Women's economic empowerment -- Empowerment through local citizenship -- Empowerment in fragile states and situations of fragility -- Decent work and empowerment for pro-poor growth -- Legal empowerment of the poor and its relation to pro-poor growth -- Empowerment and equity -- Working with social movements -- Monitoring and evaluating empowerment processes -- Empowerment sustainability and phasing out support to empowerment processes.

Empowerment of those living in poverty is both a critical driver and an important measure of poverty reduction. It is the decisions and actions of poor people themselves that will bring about sustainable improvements in their lives and livelihoods. Inequitable power relations exclude poor people from decision-making and prevent them from taking action. Sustainable poverty reduction needs poor people to be both the agents and beneficiaries of economic growth - to directly participate in, contribute to and benefit from growth processes. Strengthening poor people's organizations, providing them with more control over assets and promoting their influence in economic governance will improve the terms on which they engage in markets. This economic empowerment combined with political and social empowerment will make growth much more effective in reducing poverty. This report aims to build donor understanding of empowerment and how best to support it.