Andrew Shepherd

This paper assesses the degree to which the three major current approaches to aiding low-income countries – support for poverty reduction strategies (PRSs), the development of sector-wide approaches (SWAps) and the delivery of aid through general budget support (GBS) - may serve the interests and allow for the participation of the poorest people.

This paper argues that nowhere in the current mainstream policy discourse is there a strong or systematic focus on the poorest people in society and posits several arguments as to why this is of critical concern.