Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), required by the IMF and the World Bank for access to debt relief and concessional assistance are loaded with a number of myths that should be debunked. According to these two institutions, PRSPs are country-driven and reflect the priorities of each country in its fight against poverty. But 'national ownership' is more theoretical than real. In many cases, CSOs have been frustrated by the process and democratically-elected parliaments have been bypassed. And the fact is that African governments put in PRSPs what the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWI) would like to see, rather than what the poor really want.

Displacement of civilians caused by intermittent clashes between Senegalese government forces and rebels of the separatist Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance (MFDC) continued to be reported in 2002 and 2003. Due to the fact that the southern Casamance province is virtually cut off from the rest of the country by the Gambia, most people fleeing the violence have sought refuge in neighbouring Gambia and Guinea–Bissau. But at the end of 2002, an estimated 5,000 people remained internally displaced, according to the US Committee for Refugees. Both parties to the conflict have been guilty of human rights abuses against civilians, including extrajudicial executions, "disappearances", torture and forced displacement.