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This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) focuses on the Second Annual Progress Report for Zambia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The government’s strategy to reduce poverty focuses on promoting economic growth through macroeconomic stabilization and diversification and improving the quality of service delivery, while addressing crosscutting issues of governance, HIV/AIDS, gender, and the environment. The JSAN provides IMF staff advice on priorities for advancing the PRSP implementation. It highlights progress in implementing the PRSP and provides suggestions for strengthening its implementation. The risks associated with implementation are also described.

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This paper presents the Poverty Reduction Strategy Implementation Progress Report for Côte d’Ivoire. Since the end of the crisis in April 2011, Côte d'Ivoire has gradually recovered economic activity and social cohesion, as reflected in the reopening of banks, schools and health centers, markets, and industrial enterprises. Financing of the poverty reduction strategy is provided largely through budget resources and assistance from the government's technical and financial partners (TFP). Assistance from the TFP may also take the form of project grants or program grants.

The paper discusses the Joint Staff Assessment (JSA) of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Progress Report for Honduras. The first PRSP Progress Report of the Government of Honduras presents a complete review of the government’s implementation of the PRSP to date and updates the PRSP for 2004–07. The report presents a comprehensive assessment of challenges encountered in implementing the poverty reduction strategy in Honduras. It reports on progress made to date and candidly identifies factors related to less-than-satisfactory Poverty Reduction Strategy implementation.

The first Annual Progress Report (APR) of Togo highlights many of the reforms implemented during the first year of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) while recognizing some weaknesses and implementation constraints. It draws attention to important advances in macrocritical structural reforms, notably in the areas of public financial management; fiscal governance; domestic arrears clearance to private suppliers; and banking sector restructuring. It also presents a macroeconomic framework consistent with the one agreed under the fifth Extended Credit Facility (ECF) review mission. It is recommended that the next APR should elaborate more on the macroeconomic challenges and risks.