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The unpretentious acronym, “PRSP”, embodies a concept of thorough reform in the policies of international development. With the adoption of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Initiative in September 1999, the World Bank and the IMF declared the notions of national ownership and social participation to be the fundamental principles for both their loan policies and the extension of debt relief to highly indebted poor countries (HIPC II). Since then, the recipient countries have to set up their own development plans, i.e. PRSPs. And “civil society” and in particular “the poor” themselves have to assist in the setting up, operation and control of such programmes. In principle, with the PRSP approach democratisation has finally been integrated in IMF and World Bank strategy. The following report considers the extent of this conceptual change. As a concept, PRSP embraces far-reaching changes and opens up far-reaching chances. However, in the reality of PRSP processes ownership collides with the still dominant role of IMF and World Bank, participation appears as mere consultation steered by respective governments, while the macro-economic framework largely remains excluded from public debate . A review of the debate on experiences with PRSP as well as two case studies on Bolivia and Tanzania demonstrate that these inconsistencies, contradictions and limitations are as far reaching as to query the concept itself.

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