One of the reasons for these broad definitions of pro-poor policies and pro-poor policy processes is that there continues to be a lack of consensus on what pro-poor policies and pro-poor policy processes actually mean in practice. On the other hand - and on a more positive note - it also indicates that there is now a common understanding that there can be no 'blueprint' for poverty reduction, and that each country is required to 'mix and match' its own set of policies and processes which are appropriate to the context in order to achieve the goal of increased and sustainable poverty reduction.

This paper reviews recent development literature to see if it possible to further our understanding of what 'pro-poor' actually means. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section looks at some of the main conceptual difficulties in forming a definition of the term 'pro-poor'. The second section looks at the historical evolution of how pro-poor policies have been understood and gives a picture of the variety of existing views on which polices are thought to be more pro-poor. Similarly, the third section unpacks some of the issues that currently make up our understanding of pro-poor policy processes. The fourth and final section looks at what this deeper insight into pro-poor policies and processes means for the Civil Society Partnership Programme.

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