Gabon - Poverty in a rent-based economy : Summary (Anglais)

This two-volume poverty assessment of Gabon is organized as follows: Chapter 1 presents a demographic overview, and outlines recent economic history and political developments. The high degree of inequality among the provinces and persistent poverty are...  Voir la suite This two-volume poverty assessment of Gabon is organized as follows: Chapter 1 presents a demographic overview, and outlines recent economic history and political developments. The high degree of inequality among the provinces and persistent poverty are profiled in Chapter 2. The participatory poverty assessment taken June, 1995 shows that access to health and education services preoccupy the rural population, while urban infrastructure inadequacy -especially the lack of potable water- burdens those living in secondary towns. Large city complaints center around the unhealthy environment, the lack of access roads, and the threat to personal safety. The report attributes the persistence of poverty to the economy's structure and the policy choices the government has made. Structural problems include the predominant reliance on income from capital and the extreme discrepancy between the modern sector and the rest of the economy -still a subsistence economy. Simultaneously, the development policies financed by the oil boom created an inadequate public investment structure and gave rise to mainly unproductive public enterprises. External debt and high government expenditures after the oil crisis of 1986 made it more difficult to establish the macroeconomic stability needed to support the growth necessary to reduce poverty. Chapter 3 details the unhealthy conditions, uncertain land tenure, precarious housing, lack of access to urban facilities and services, and massive unemployment characterizing urban poverty. Chapters 4 through 8 examine the Gabonese labor market, the factors undergirding rural poverty, urban and rural problems in primary, secondary, and vocational and technical education, the health system, and social safety nets. Finally, chapter 9 details what is needed to reach a poverty reduction strategy related to economic growth and questions of governance; and then proposes steps to meet six priority objectives previously identified with a view to reducing poverty, as defined by income levels, personal well-being, and living conditions.  Réduire

Document disponible en : Français