Urban poverty, intervention strategies and the role of social work in the framework of structural adjustment: concepts, approaches and experiences
Abstract
Structural adjustment and economic reform have been at the centre of the policy agenda in many African countries since the early 1980s. In an era of scarce resources, African policy-makers have the task to reconcile what their citizens need with what countries can afford. Although this dilemma must be confronted in any economy, the gravity of the African situation has made the process of political and economic accommodation particularly difficult and painful.
Although some of the programmes of development include social aspects, they seem to be inefficient due to their social welfare and safety-net orientation. This situation particularly affects urban populations whose conditions of life are decreasing day-by-day.
This paper, on the one hand, analyses the implications of structural adjustment programmes for urban poverty and the policies and strategies for urban poverty alleviation. On the other hand it gives general approaches for innovative policies and social work within the process of urban poverty alleviation.