Accra, Aug 28, GNA - The Social Investment Fund, (SIF) implementers of the Urban Poverty Reduction Project (UPRP), on Thursday held an Annual Review Meeting to review the performance of the project for the 2007 fiscal year. The meeting, attended by Municipal Chief Executives, officials from Ministries, Departments and Agencies and representatives of 12 municipalities that are beneficiaries of the project was aimed at providing a clear strategy to move the project implementation and subsequent disbursement levels to a higher pedestal come another review meeting next year.

Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, called on the implementers to come out with a clear-cut implementation strategy that would address pro-poor urban development challenges. He said the implementation strategies of the UPRP should acknowledge the poor, not as passive recipients, but as proactive and reactive members of the urban community.

He called on the private sector and civil society organizations to partner with government to break the cycle of poverty that existed at the lowest levels. He called on the SIF to bring its experience to bear on the project to enable government's determination to accelerate economic growth among the poor succeed. The UPRP is a five-year project aimed at reducing poverty among the urban poor.