The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched a joint initiative at the end of 1999, stating that they intended to set the fight against poverty at the heart of their development policies. This book provides a critical analysis of the poverty reduction strategies. Originally published in French and updated here in English, the book emphasises three main innovations brought about by focus on poverty reduction, participatory process implemented for policy-making and better coordination of official development assistance. The contributions also show that there remains a large gap between the principles of the World Bank and IMF's strategies and their application. Table of Contents Part I: Diagnosis and Reflections on Poverty Reduction Policies 1. Jean- Pierre Cling A Critical Review of the World Bank's Stance on Poverty Reduction 2. Denis Cogneau Poverty, Inequality of Conditions and Inequality of Opportunities: Chances and Risks of New Strategies 3. Serge Paugam The Lessons to be Learnt from Methods of Regulating Poverty in Europe 4. Mireille Razafindrakoto and Francois Roubaud Urban Poverty and Recession in Sub-Saharan Africa: Elements for an Assessment 5. Mireille Razafindrakoto and Francois Roubaud Do They Really Think Differently? The Voice of the Poor Through Quantitative Surveys Part II: Scope and Limitations of the New International Initiatives 6. Jean-Pierre Cling, Mireille Razafindrakoto and Francois Roubaud The Participatory Process Towards Establishing New Relationship Between Stakeholders 7. Jean-Pierre Cling, Mireille Razafindrakoto and Francois Roubaud Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Old Wine in New Bottles? 8. Idrissa Dante, Mohamed Ali Marouani and Marc Raffinot Poverty Reduction in Mali: Will the PRSP Make a Difference? 9. Jean-David Naudet Debt Relief or Aid Reform? 10. Anne-Sophie Bougouin and Marc Raffinot The HIPC Initiative and Poverty Reduction Part III: Monitoring and Evaluation Systems 11. Mireille Razafindrakoto and Fra