Social Dimensions of Adjustment in Africa: A Policy Agenda

摘要

Structural adjustment and economic reform have been at the center of the policy agenda in many African countries since the early 1980s. In an era of scarce resources, African policymakers have the formidable task of trying to reconcile what their citizens need (or have come to expect) with what their countries can afford. Although this dilemma must be confronted in any economy, the gravity of Africa's situation has made this process of political and economic accommodation particularly difficult and painful. The paper is meant to provide policymakers and managers in African governments and the international donor community with an overview of the background, policy rationale, and program objectives of the social dimensions of adjustment (SDA) initiative. The background and meaning of structural adjustment and the changing content of adjustment programs since the early 1980s is discussed. A simplified framework for policy analysis and some of the principal approaches for incorporating the social dimensions of adjustment into policy formulation and implementation is presented. The SDA initiative for participating countries, which has the goal of integrating social dimensions into policy design, into program and project activities, and into the national information system, is supported by assistance to strengthen national institutional capacity for sustaining social dimensions objectives over the long term.