Polylateral Development (
poly
Poly, from the Greek :wikt:πολύς, πολύς meaning "many" or "much", may refer to:
Businesses
* China Poly Group Corporation, a Chinese business group, and its subsidiaries:
** Poly Property, a Hong Kong incorporated Chinese property devel ...
: meaning ‘many’,
lateral
Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
Healthcare
*Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction
*Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle
*Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap
Phonetics
*Lateral cons ...
: meaning ‘sides’)
An emerging trend in
international development
International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...
theory. Polylateral Development focuses on supporting systematic and sustainable lateral flows of knowledge and resources among and between
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...
to promote socio-economic growth and development.
The main feature of Polylateral Development, as opposed to more traditional
bilateral
Bilateral may refer to any concept including two sides, in particular:
* Bilateria, bilateral animals
*Bilateralism, the political and cultural relations between two states
*Bilateral, occurring on both sides of an organism ( Anatomical terms of ...
or
multilateral development, is the absence of any single agency or organization (IMF, World Bank, USAID etc.) in determining the direction that is taken by developing nations in regard to the creation of policy. It is a
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer n ...
development strategy, with participants choosing policy area focus based on their own needs, and then looking for guidance or lessons from others who may have experience in those same areas.
:Key Polylateral Development Concepts:
:
:* Peer-to-Peer interaction
:* South-to-South focus
:* Knowledge sharing community
:* Recognition of diverse policy requirements (one size does not fit all)
:* Participants look for guidance from the developing world, but adapt only what they need
A good example of Polylateral Development in action can be seen in the work of the
Alliance for Financial Inclusion
The Alliance for Financial Inclusion, or AFI, is a policy leadership alliance owned and led by member central banks and financial regulatory institutions with the common objective of advancing financial inclusion at the country, regional and inte ...
. AFI is a knowledge sharing network of developing nations focused on expanding access to the formal financial sector and has often been credited with coining the Polylateral Development term. (Although 'polylateralism' in relation to international relations was first used by Geoffrey Wiseman in his paper “Polylateralism” and New Modes of Global Dialogue in 2004) The members of the network are all from developing countries and join in order to learn lessons from other developing countries about different kinds of
financial inclusion
Financial inclusion is defined as the availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services. It refers to a process by which individuals and businesses can access appropriate, affordable, and timely financial products and service ...
policy experiences, so as to improve or develop their own development efforts. Rather than having direction imposed upon them by international organizations or developed countries, the members of AFI determine their priorities and direction through consultation with other members (using forums, working groups and one to one meetings), and then develop policy based on the specific needs of their populations and the capacity of their countries.
References
{{Reflist
External links
* Alliance for Financial Inclusio
* UND
International development