A development consultant has said that barriers to education access, healthcare, water and markets are frustrating the fight against poverty.

"To get the poor out of poverty, we must work on development barriers first,” Stephen Anderson, a consultant with ‘Vision 2020 Umurenge’ project, said this week.

Anderson was speaking to representatives of the poorest sectors in each district, directors of planning in ministries and representatives of NGOs, during a technical validation meeting at Alpha Palace Hotel on Tuesday.

The ‘Vision 2020 Umurenge’, a sub-set of the broader Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS), aims to develop the poorest sectors in all districts. Its pilot phase has three components; public works through job creation for the poor, credit packages to support change the mindset of the poor and making use of banks by accessing loans.

Anderson also said that there is need to help the poor by creating ways of payment which will give them confidence to ask for loans.

The poor, he noted, have the capacity to overcome poverty if given support.
He added that people need to have orientation towards business skills and savings. "Sectors need to identify projects for their communities, create village savings and loan associations,” he said.

Rupert Blaydon, Vision 2020 Umurenge Finance Management Consultant, remarked that the capacity of sector level is unable to implement envisaged programmes.
"Communities have to be empowered to identify their needs and solve them according to priorities,” he said.

He added that they would give options on how to use the money and ensure the right people get the money.

After pilot phase, the programme is expected to extend to other poor sectors.
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