Promoting pro poor policies is important for improving access of the poor to adequate housing and to public services such as water and sanitation services, which require inputs from the public sector.

An important institution was the public hospital, opened in the mid 13th century, which provided services for the poor.

To some extent, poor public services can be seen as the flipside of the middle class consumer boom in emerging economies.

La Mosquitia is one of the most remote areas of Honduras, where public services are very poor or even non existent.

Some participants noted that public private partnerships resulted in increased private control of assets and reduced access for the poor to affordable services and called for strengthening the public sector to ensure equitable access to basic goods and services.

Poor accessibility of health facilities and services.

Public private partnerships could be a useful tool for meeting the needs of the urban and rural poor for housing, education, transportation and services.

Public Services International

Guaranteeing access of the poor to public services is also significant and targeting should be seen as an instrument, rather than as a substitute, for universality.

Of particular concern are the lack of youth friendly services, insufficient education and information, outdated and obsolete legislation, poor physical infrastructure and medical equipment, inadequate resource allocation to public health priorities and unequal access to services.

Zambia was cooperating with UNHCR on the development of an initiative to alleviate the effects of the food deficit, poor infrastructure and limited access to public services.

Source Public Services Commission, 2003.

Public Services International (Special, 1997)

Public policies can play an important role by extending access to family planning services to the poor, expanding social security systems, reducing child mortality through public health investments, and improving education and job opportunities for women.

Public Services Commission. Public Service Staff Manual. Port Vila PSC.

Providing improved housing and associated services to the urban poor

Poor countries cannot forever have their health services run from abroad.

Since infrastructural development in most low income countries requires public funding, the level of spending and the access of the rural poor to infrastructure and public services have important implications for human capital and productivity in the agricultural sector.

This perception also accorded well with the median (typically poor) voter s low expectation of government in India seeing it as a source of sporadic handouts rather than of reliable public services.

Sub goal 1 is to increase sustainable access of the poor to basic infrastructure and public services and to productive livelihoods opportunities through good local governance and enhanced natural resources management.

In addition, meeting the health needs of poor and otherwise marginalized people may require that public sector and social marketing programmes channel free and subsidized services to those in greatest need.

(b) Assist Governments of developing countries in their efforts to create an enabling regulatory environment for public private partnerships and investment in enterprises and projects providing basic services to the poor

The quality of American public services has deteriorated steadily over the past few decades, while that of Chinese public services has improved dramatically.

The success stories in public health for the poor are multiplying.

Recalling that corruption often excludes the poor from access to basic government services,

Market access for goods and services must be substantially improved for poor countries.

This in turn had made it possible to increase recurrent public spending in public services.

Indeed, access by poor people to financial services is a powerful anti poverty tool.

Public safety nets are overstretched, with too many poor people falling through.

And their density facilitates the delivery of public services, including education, health care, and basic services.

Of particular concern for long term stability is the 70 per cent poverty rate, high unemployment among youths, the poor quality of public service delivery, such as health and education, and the general perception that public institutions are failing to deliver services because of corruption.

Innovative partnerships can also work to strengthen the foundations of public administration and governance by empowering civil society and non governmental organizations to mobilize communities, use their skills and capacities to provide services, promote the interests of the poor, and hold public officials accountable.

CAMBRIDGE Countries are poor because governments are corrupt. And, unless they ensure that public resources are not stolen, and that public power is not used for private gain, they will remain poor, right?

The main beneficiaries of public spending are the poor and the middle class.

And without tax revenues, improved public services are not sustainable.

These principles should also be applied in delivering public services.

While providing relatively fewer tangible public goods and services directly, the Chinese government will need to provide more intangible public goods and services like rules, standards, and policies.

The main challenge in this context is the need to strengthen regulatory regimes that allow developing country Governments to maintain macroeconomic stability and promote stable and secure access of the poor to public goods and services.

The law prohibits discrimination in the provision of products or public services, granting entry to public places, or providing services in a public place due to certain grounds, including gender, sexual preference, personal status and parenthood.

Where charges for sanitation services are included in water charges, services for poor households, including sewer connections, could be cross subsidized from progressive water charges.

More public services will be provided to newly urbanized rural migrants.

Now, citizens are facing higher taxes and cuts to public services.

Access to public services and economic opportunities is still denied them.

Expenditure for public health services overseas was 700 thousand in 2003.

Public finance (or, in some cases, government regulated cooperative insurance funds that amount to public financing) pays for most discretionary medical services, with private insurance supplementing only minimal extra services.