Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI)

The Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI) was designed as a tripartite exercise to bring together organizations of civil society, their governments and the World Bank in a joint review of structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and an exploration of new policy options. Launched in 1997, it legitimizes an active role for civil society in economic decision-making, as it was designed to indicate areas in which changes in economic policies and in the economic-policymaking process are required. The countries that participated in SAPRI are: Bangladesh, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ghana, Hungary, Mali, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

As the findings were filed, all showed the damaging effects on national economies of the Bank’s adjustment policies. The Bank has chosen to ignore the findings and the recommendations.

The final report from SAPRI, “The Policy Roots of Economic Crisis and Poverty: A Multi-Country Participatory Assessment of Structural Adjustment”, released in 2002, can be found at http://www.saprin.org/global_rpt.htm

For more information on SAPRI and the global civil society network, go to www.saprin.org

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