Poverty Reduction and Development Experience Sharing

【Research】

(1)  From May 2008 to March 2009, the Foreign Capital Project Management Center of LGOP (hereinafter referred to FCPMC) conducted the "Research on the Chinese Community Development Fund Theory and Practice" funded by Ford Foundation. The study group conducted research and analysis on national community development fund, summarized the key factors for the success of community development fund and compiled the results into "Chinese Community Development Fund Theory and Practice", which was officially published by Guangming Daily in July 2009.

(2)  The Department of International Cooperation and Social Poverty Alleviation of LGOP and the UN Children's Fund (hereinafter referred to as "Children's Fund") jointly conducted "the study on the impact of financial crisis on poverty-stricken areas". FCPMC was responsible for the implementation. The study was mainly on the impact of international financial crisis on China's rural poverty and, on this basis, analyzed whether the government's policy measures for combating financial crisis are conducive to the poor and vulnerable groups. The study began in January 2009 and was designed to be completed in August 2010. The final report will explain systematically how to reduce the impact of financial crisis on the poor and vulnerable groups to the largest extent, which will surely provide a reference for the improvement of pro-poor policies for the next phase.

　　(3)  In 2007, the Department of International Cooperation and Social Poverty Alleviation of LGOP and the UN Children's Fund signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation to determine the framework for the cooperation between the two sides on the "Study on Chinese Child Poverty" from 2007 to 2010. FCPMC was responsible for the implementation. As of 2009, after completing the qualitative and quantitative research in Hubei and Gansu, they wrote a report and put forward policy recommendations for the government.

(4)  From May 2008 to March 2009, the "study on CDD mechanism and project procedures" was implemented, covering CDD theory, practice, policies, support system and project procedures. Through the study, it promoted the combination of CDD theory and practice, standardized operating procedures of CDD and improved CDD policy system. The book "Operational Guidance on Community-driven Development of China" was officially published by Guangming Daily in October 2009.

 (5) From May 2008 to March 2009, FCPMC and ADB jointly conducted the "Research on the Role of Non-governmental Organizations in Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction and the Way of Giving Play to Their Role". Through analyzing the main factors affecting NGO involvement in the post-quake reconstruction, it explored effective approaches to coordinated relationship and actions between NGOs, between NGOs and governments and other forces, and revealed the government’s action guideline and governance mechanism in the context of NGO participation in post-disaster reconstruction, finally forming the "Research Report on the Role of Non-governmental Organizations in Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction and the Way of Giving Play to Their Role".

 (6) From January to September 2009, FCPMC and the Asia Foundation jointly conducted the "Research on the Complaint Mechanism for Community-driven Development Projects". Through survey, research and analysis on the operational model of publicity and complaint in the pilot project areas for CDD, the researchers wrote the "Role and Policy Significance of Publicity and Complaint Mechanism" to provide a guarantee for the establishment and improvement of a monitoring mechanism for community-driven development.

(7)  In order to better promote economic growth and poverty reduction experience sharing and strengthen the mutual learning among countries, in January 2009, IPRCC and the OECD Development Assistance Committee jointly established the "China - Development Assistance Committee (China-DAC) Study Group". The program was supported by a number of international multilateral and bilateral development partners. The Study Group mainly carries out research on two themes: First, China's experience in growth and poverty reduction (including the impact of international development assistance to China) and the implications for other developing countries, particularly African countries; Second, China-African economic cooperation and its impact on poverty reduction and development in Africa. Each theme consists of four topics, namely "development partners", "agricultural growth and rural development", "infrastructure construction" and "nurturing environment for enterprise development". Four seminars will be convened based on the results of the studies on the above four topics. The policy makers, theorists and development practitioners will be invited to participate in the workshops, conduct discussions on the relevant issues and finally form a comprehensive report to promote the experience sharing in the field of international poverty reduction and development and support the IPRCC’s international poverty reduction trainings, exchanges and cooperation. From October 28 to 29, 2009, the "Experience Sharing Workshop to Promote Learning on Development Partnerships for Growth and Poverty Reduction" was convened in Beijing. More than 140 representatives from the government departments and research institutes of China, Africa and member countries of OECD Development Assistance Committee as well relevant international organizations attended the event.

 (8) IPRCC used the UNDP capacity building project funds to carry out a series of studies on poverty reduction and development as well as international development assistance and completed the "Comparative Study on the Poverty Reduction Models of China and Africa", "Research on the Poverty Alleviation Standards of Various Countries in the World", "Research on Financial Crisis and Poverty Reduction" and "Overview Research on the Progress of the Study on International Poverty Reduction Theory " in 2009.

(9)  IPRCC launched the "Research on the Internationalization of China's Experience in Poverty Reduction". This study aims to clarify the specific requirements for developing countries to promote the development of poverty reduction, make a comprehensive and systematic summary of the basic experience of China in poverty reduction and explore specific approaches for developing countries to effectively learn from China’s experience in poverty reduction.

【Trainings】

　　It is an important part of the international cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation to carry out international poverty reduction trainings and strengthen poverty reduction experience sharing. In recent years, FCPMC and IPRCC have carried out a lot of training activities with their respectively strength. Foreign aid trainings focus on sharing China's experience in development and poverty reduction and the content has been constantly enriched. A relatively stable teaching team of experts in many fields has been initially established, forming the training model of lectures, discussions and survey. The quality of trainings has been improved and was praised by the trainees. The basic work for building a trainee network has been completed.

　　Since 2005, IPRCC has successfully held 20 foreign aid training courses. A total of 493 middle and senior officials from 82 countries attended the trainings and more than 70 experts and scholars from Chinese government departments, research institutes and international organizations gave lectures to the trainees. In 2009, IPRCC successfully held six poverty reduction training courses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce for developing countries and one seminar for the directors of domestic provincial poverty alleviation offices. 23 ministerial-level officials and 128 sub-ministry and section chief-level project officers from 52 countries attended the trainings. The content of the trainings covered the theoretical knowledge, policy measures, research methods and practical skills in the field of poverty reduction and social development. The trainings were mainly divided into lectures, case studies, country presentations, interactive discussions and field visits.

　　（1）From May 21 to June 3, the "Seminar of Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the State’s Pro-poor Policies and Practitioner Officials" was held in Beijing and Heilongjiang. 15 people from Russia, Kyrghyzstan and Tajikistan attended the event.

　　（2）From June 26 to July 9, the "Seminar on Development-oriented Poverty Alleviation and Practice for African Officials" took place in Beijing and Gansu. A total of 37 department and division officials from 19 Francophone African countries such as Algeria and Benin attended the event.

　　（3）From July 8 to 17, the second "High-level Seminar on China-Africa Development Experience Sharing" was convened. 33 officials from 18 central and western African countries participated in the event, including 23 vice ministers. LGOP Director-General Fan Xiaojian, Vice Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying, Assistance to Vice Minister of Finance Zhang Tong and Vice President of the World Bank Sanjay Pradhan addressed the opening ceremony. In addition to the seminar, the participants were organized to visit the new rural construction areas, economic and technological development zones and industrialization poverty reduction projects in Shandong and Fujian. It provided a new platform for China and Africa to better understand each other, expand consensus and seek cooperation.

　　（4）From September 4 to 9, the "Third Training on National Environmental Protection and Poverty Alleviation" was convened in Naxi Autonomous County of Yulong, Yunnan Province jointly with The Nature Conservancy. A total of 35 representatives from 11 western provinces (autonomous regions) participated in the training. Many renowned experts and scholars from domestic and foreign agencies such as the United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, World Wide Fund for Nature, China Agricultural University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences and Yunnan Development Research Institute introduced the relationship between environmental protection and poverty alleviation and the specific practice from different theoretical and practical perspectives.

　　（5）From September 23 to 29, IPRCC held in Beijing and Guangxi the "Seminar on South-South Cooperation Experience Sharing of China and IFAD". A total of 18 IFAD project managers from Bangladesh, Vietnam, Madagascar and Rwanda participated in the workshop.

　　（6）On October 16, the second "Seminar on International Development (Poverty Reduction) Theory and Practice for the Directors of Nationwide Poverty Alleviation Offices" was convened in Beijing. A total of 48 principles and backbone business staffs of poverty alleviation offices from 31 provinces attended the seminar. The experts from Argentina, Ethiopia and the World Bank respectively introduced the new experience in international poverty reduction and development.

　　（7）From October 30 to November 1, IPRCC held the "Seminar on Child Poverty and Development" jointly with the United Nations Children's Fund. More than 40 people from 11 provincial (municipal, county) poverty alleviation offices and the foreign capital management centers of 7 provincial poverty alleviation offices attended the event. A number of domestic and foreign experts from the United Nations Children's Fund, China Agricultural University, Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention introduced international and domestic experience and practices in children intervention and the reason for and solutions to child poverty, and analyzed the impact of child poverty on poverty alleviation and development, providing a theoretical basis for including the perspective of child poverty in the development of future pro-poor policies.

　　（8）From November 5 to 10, the "Seminar on Theory and Practice of International Development (Poverty Reduction) for Asian Countries" was convened in Nanjing. It was the second foreign aid training course under the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD). A total of 17 people from nine of the member countries of ACD attended the event.

　　（9）From November 24 to December 14, the "Seminar on the Policy and Practice of Development-oriented Poverty Reduction" was convened in Beijing. A total of 32 people attended the event, including the department and division-level officials in the field of national and social development, poverty alleviation and employment from 19 countries such as Bangladesh and Benin.

　　（10）From December 8 to 10, IPRCC held in Chengdu the "Workshop on Post-disaster Reconstruction of Poverty-stricken Villages from the Perspective of Gender and Children" jointly with the United Nations Children's Fund. Nearly 140 people were present at the seminar, including representatives from the poverty alleviation offices of eight cities (prefectures) and 39 affected and severely affected counties. Relevant renowned experts from the United Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Centre for Regional Development and Right To Play gave lectures on the gender perspective in post-disaster reconstruction to provide a new perspective for the combination of poverty alleviation and disaster prevention and mitigation.

【Exchanges】

　　（1）On March 11, IPRCC held the first Celebrity Forum. Chairman of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh Professor Muhammad Yunus delivered a speech titled "Microcredit and Poverty Reduction: Policy, Experience and International Cooperation", and Chief Operational Officer of Danone Group Mr. Emmanuel Faber introduced "Enterprises’ Social Responsibility: Danone Group and Grameen Bank’s Social Business Model". On April 1, 2009, the World Bank senior expert and South Africa’s Tshwane University of Technology Professor Dr. Hans Peter Binswanger and Chief Economist Han Weisen of the China Office of the World Bank were present at the second Celebrity Forum and delivered speeches respectively titled "Changing African Agricultural and Rural Development Background and Prospect" and "The World Bank’s South-South Cooperation Strategy and Action".

　　（2）From October 16 to 17, FCPMC organized an international exchange group to visit the community-driven development pilot project areas in Jialing District of Sichuan Province and Baishui County of Shaanxi Province. A total of 24 officials and experts from four international agencies including the World Bank, etc, and 11 countries in Asia, Africa and America participated in the field research. Through investigation, the international community had a deeper understanding of China's CDD poverty alleviation projects and the participants exchanged the project management models and methods of various countries, which played a positive role in promoting the globalization of China's experience and the practice of foreign experience in China.

　　（3）On November 28, United Nations Development Programme Administrator Ms. Helen Clark visited IPRCC and attended the high-level dialogue - "China and the World: Promote South-South Cooperation" organized by IPRCC. More than 50 people attended the event, including LGOP Director-General Fan Xiaojian, Vice Minister of the CPC Central Committee United Front Work Department Quan Zhezhu, Wang Maolin, Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee, International  CEO Roundtable  of Chinese and Foreign Multinational Corporations, Wei Jianguo, Secretary General of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, Former Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng, Chief Executive Officer of the China Africa Development Fund Chi Jianxin, some envoys in China and representatives of enterprises.

【Cooperation】

(1)  FCPMC started preparation work for the pilot project for China-Africa Cooperation - Comprehensive Poverty Reduction in Ghana. In July 2009, FCPMC signed a cooperation agreement with Nanchang Railway Tianji Economy and Trade Co., Ltd. The company donated 17 million Yuan for the pilot project of comprehensive poverty reduction in Ghana. This is the first foreign aid poverty reduction project of China since it started international cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation. The project will explore the integration of funds of domestic enterprises and international agencies. Through combining the poverty alleviation experience of China and Ghana, it strives to explore poverty reduction model and methods suited to the actual situation of Ghana and even Africa to accumulate experience and lay a foundation for future foreign aid poverty alleviation.

(2)  In accordance with the arrangement of ​​strengthening international cooperation in poverty alleviation, IPRCC began its anti-poverty cooperation work in Tanzania. First, it entrusted Tanzanian Promotion Society of Rural Business and Enterprise Development to carry out two basic researches on China-Tanzania cooperation in poverty reduction: "Socio-economic Situation and Development and Poverty reduction in Tanzania" and "Feasibility Study Report on China-Tanzania Microfinance Development Center". Secondly, it signed the "Cooperation Framework for the Promotion of Rural Initiative and Development Enterprises Limited (PRIDE Tanzania)" with Promotion of Rural SMEs in Tanzania, which clarified the scope and model of the cooperation between the two sides and made clear the tenet for the cooperation: to provide a learning platform integrating information sharing, experience exchange, capacity building and demonstration guidance for African developing countries to learn and share China ' s successful experience in development-oriented poverty alleviation and create a new mechanism for sustained learning. Thirdly, it organized delegations to conduct field research and visit relevant departments and IPRCC' s partners in Tanzania, and reached a consensus with Tanzania on dispatching experts in poverty reduction and development to Tanzania, carrying out demonstration anti-poverty projects in Tanzania and supporting the establishment of China- Tanzania cooperation center for poverty reduction, etc. Above work was affirmed and praised by the leaders of Tanzania. Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda personally sent a letter to the Ambassador of China in Tanzania with a copy to IPRCC to congratulate the successful organizing of the large-scale international poverty reduction exchange activities and require the Center to conduct the follow-up activities as soon as possible.