Addressing Poverty through Local Economic and Territorial Development
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A workshop was held on November 23, 2004, BRAC Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thirty participants representing 23 organizations including bilateral development partners and the World Bank met on the 23 November 2004 to discuss Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED) in Bangladesh.Workshop participants (Click here for list [PDF 70Kb]) The specific objectives of the workshop were to:
Resource papers were shared with the workshop participants. These are: Working paper 1 - Using the Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED) framework for analysis and joint action: implications for spatial development. Junior Davis May 2004. May 2004 (Click here - [PDF 461 kb]) Working paper 2 - Using the Rural economic and Enterprise Framework (REED) framework for analysis and joint action: outline and work plan for action research. Junior Davis, Felicity Proctor and Ana Marr. October 2004 (Click here - [PDF 393kb]) Working paper 3 - Addressing poverty through local economic and enterprise developments: A review of conceptual approaches and practice. Junior Davis and Catherine Rylance. February 2005 (Click here - [PDF 399Kb]) The workshop Following the welcome including programme background and workshop objectives by Felicity Proctor and Sattar Mandal, Junior Davis presented:
The full REED document is available on http://www.donorplatform.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,50/Itemid,98/ This was followed by a series of presentations from the following programmes:
General discussion A number of the programmes recognized the need for some broadening out of the framework within which they operate e.g. KATALYST, BRDB although there was concern expressed by some participants on taking on too wide a mandate. Whilst the Chars programme of DFID has a wider operational framework, it has yet to become fully operational. Some participants felt that the different cornerstones of the REED framework operate at different levels and suggested that it would be helpful to differentiate these. Others questioned how poverty was specifically addressed through the framework. It was recognized that many current initiatives in Bangladesh may not be giving adequate attention to sustainability and that a number of programmes were weakly integrated within and or associated to public sector activities. The extent of poverty and rural focus in some of SME and BDS work was questioned and there exists scope to seek to understand who benefits and losses from particular types of intervention. In general, there are opportunities to: strengthen the linkages between the formal and informal sectors; deepen the understanding of the labour market including associated remittance management; strengthen the empirical basis which informs investment choice; build a common understanding between practitioners on how to intervene within the market (noting in particular the level of effective subsidy offered through some donor initiatives); and deepen an understanding of the linkages between urban and rural economic activity. The need to strengthen the mechanisms for lesson sharing was emphasised. A new initiative (web-based learning platform) supported by DFID through CARE was noted and aims to strengthen good practice sharing for BDS – this was welcomed. Additional opportunities exist for lesson sharing and validation of replicable practice within all the key elements of the REED framework. The group felt that the REED framework offers a framework for joint learning, a tool for analysis and dialogue, a check list for project development and a tool to inform monitoring and evaluation. A number of participants expressed interest in holding follow up discussion with the REED team. Timetable for follow up action
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