Suchergebnisse

This article analyses the social costs of Mozambique's Economic Recovery Programme, sponsored by the World Bank and introduced in 1987. The programme has had some success in arresting economic decline, though not as fast as anticipated. However, social differentiation has increased, with traders, large farmers, corrupt state and military officials and private entrepreneurs gaining from the changes, while women, children and the poor in particular are finding their standards of living dropping sharply with devastating consequences for their health and nutritional status. The article uses the findings of research studies and interviews with urban dwellers on the issues of food supply, education and health to support this analysis. The loss to the IMF and the World Bank of Mozambican control over economic policy, the increase in human suffering with its potential for social and political breakdown, and the appropriateness of the programme in conditions of war, are the three central issues which have to be faced by proponents of this kind of adjustment.

Reviews problems with recommendations made by international financial institutions, 1980s-1990s.

The programme is set out in a three year perspective. It concentrates on an immediate action programme in the coming fiscal year, but also envisages the adjustment process as an ongoing process and identifies areas where additional policies for longer term should be formulated in coming years

The article explores the implications for gender roles and relations in Nicaragua of implementing a Conditional Cash Transfer programme aimed at improving the situation of the extreme poor. Nicaragua's programme, the Social Protection Network/Red de Protección Social (RPS), is modelled on the Progresa/Oportunidades programme of Mexico and shares many features in common. Evaluations of Progresa have suggested positive outcomes for women. However, examination of the findings highlight some cause for concern particularly around what inclusion on the programme means for the women involved. The article explores the consequences of translating this programme aimed at addressing the structural causes of poverty into a more overtly neoliberal and neo-conservative policy context such as that in Nicaragua. It highlights how a key feature of the RPS is the `social adjustment' of women's behaviour for economic growth gains and discusses the possible consequences for the women included and excluded from the programme.