Democratic Republic of São Tomé And Príncipe: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

Executive SummaryThe first NPRS was drafted in 2002 and the authorities promised to reduce the percentage of theSaotomean population living in poverty (53.8 percent) by half in 2010 and by two-thirds in 2015,and to decrease the percentage of the population living in extreme poverty from 15.1 percent to4.9 percent.In December 2005 a Priority Action Program (PAP 2006-2008) was submitted to the partners atthe Brussels Round Table with a view to forming a partnership for good governance and povertyreduction that would make it possible to respond to the need to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. This exercise in negotiating with technical and financial partners wascontinued at the sectoral round tables held in São Tomé in December 2006 and a CoordinationMeeting held in Santo António in the Autonomous Region of Príncipe in October 2007. Despitethese initiatives, implementation of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS-I) fell shortof expectations, as evidenced by the progress reports and impact assessments for the policies andprograms implemented.In light of this situation and the challenges faced in pursuing poverty reduction actions, SãoTomé and Príncipe took the initiative to draft an updated National Poverty Reduction Strategy(NPRS-II) for the purpose of refocusing poverty reduction interventions for the period 2012-2016.To that end, the present National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (NPRS-II) is informed by theparticipatory spirit and process that guided the preparation of the NPRS-I and is linked andcoordinated with previous policy and planning instruments to create a new strategic framework,which incorporates a number of changes that have occurred at the national and internationalspheres, as well as new policy guidelines and concerns expressed by both the cooperationpartners and the beneficiaries. This strategy is the result of a long process, which seeks toreconcile São Tomé's aspirations with the opinions of the different national, regional, and districtpublic institutions, as well as nongovernmental organizations, technical and financial partners,the private sector, and organized civil society.