A large proportion of the 100 historic cities and nearly 200 sacred sites on the World Heritage List are located in the developing world. Of key concern is how historic cities fare against the populat
"The past three decades have seen impressive advances in development in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region. Gains in income and education have been accompanied by reductions in high levels of infa
Poverty is a large and growing problem in Africa resulting in an immense amount of avoidable suffering, foreshortened lives, frustrated potentials, and joyless existences. The poverty trap is more tha
This guide is a resource to help International Finance Corporation (IFC) clients and other companies establish effective community development programs. It defines general principles and methods, diss
At the beginning of the new century, it is clear that while individual social programs can improve people's welfare and reduce poverty, a more holistic approach is needed in order to lift more people
Although growth of infrastructure services in Vietnam since the late 1980s greatly facilitated rapid growth in exports and gross domestic product (GDP), Vietnam's infrastructure still suffers from a n
"...Disaster losses include not only the shocking direct impacts that we see on the news, such as the loss of life, housing, and infrastructure, but also indirect impacts such as the foregone producti
With contributions from 35 leading economists, this forward-looking book explores the future of development economics against the background of the past half-century of development thought and practic
Health indicators in developing countries have shown significant improvement in the last 50 years. People are living longer, fewer children and their mothers die in childbirth, and many diseases have
A multi-country research initiative to understand poverty from the eyes of the poor, the Voices of the Poor project was undertaken to inform the World Bank's activities and the upcoming World Develop
The magnitude of population displacement and its consequences have placed the issues of reconstructing the livelihoods of those displaced on the world's development agenda. Addressing these issues fro
"Good nutrition is key to maintain or improve health, and people's ability to secure an adequate diet is fundamental to achieving social and economic advances. Although the nutritional status of most
"Decentralization is transforming the structure of governance in Latin America. Since 1983, all but one of the largest countries in the region have seen a transfer of power, resources, and responsibil
"Some people may believe that crises are an inevitable feature of the capitalist system. Others hold that exchange-rate crises will vanish as more and more countries adopt floating exchange rates... B
More than one billion people around the world still live in acute poverty and the earth's population is likely to double in the next forty years. Therefore, far more economic development will be requi
Tragically, mass killers are nothing new in Africa. Malaria still claims about as many African lives as AIDS, and preventable childhood diseases kill millions of others. What sets AIDS apart, however,
Advocates of pluralist, competitive politics have regarded decentralization as a device for deepening democracy or for prying closed systems open and to give interest groups space in which to organize
"War, border closures, violence, and unemployment have hampered the Palestinian economy for over a decade. Despite these obstacles and setbacks, the future outlook is optimistic."Based on the research
Microfinance is not simply banking; it is a development tool. It has been estimated that there are 500 million economically active poor people in the world operating microenterprises and small busines
This report examines the precise nature of the required institutional reforms needed to achieve higher sustained rates of growth and to make a dent in poverty reduction and provides a framework for th
"We cannot adopt a system in which the macroeconomic and financial is considered apart from the structural, social and human aspects, and vice versa."- James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank
Using the Ricardian approach (a cross sectional analysis of farm performance across different climate zones), this report examines the impact of climate change on the agriculture sector and the sector
Crime and violence have emerged in recent years as major obstacles to development objectives in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries. The paper explicates an agenda for future work that may as
Over the past 15 years, the availability of cheap and convenient microcomputers has changed the collection methods and analysis of household survey data in developing countries, making the data availa
During recent years, many Latin American countries have undergone significant reforms. The economic systems that emerged in the 1930s, stifled by heavy government intervention and protectionism, have
This book is the result of an extensive analytical and consultative process begun in 2006 that engaged more than 1,000 people from over 30 countries and many institutions mostly in Africa, as well as
This report focuses on the impact of environmental degradation on the poorest, and the sustainability of the economic development model. The global pattern of development observed over the past 25 yea
India's landmark Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) guarantees education to all children aged 6-14 years. The Act mandates specific student-teacher ratios and emphasizes tea
Recent analytical work trying to explain weak job creation and insufficient private sector dynamism in the Middle east and North Africa region point to formal and informal barriers to entry and compet
The World Development Report (WDR) 2017 on Governance and the Law seeks to shed light on how a better understanding of governance can bring about more effective policy interventions to achieve sustain
A crucial element in enhancing agricultural productivity growth in Africa is improving the provision of productive investments through more and better public spending in agriculture. Agricultural publ
The Independent Evaluation Group’s (IEG) Results and Performance of the World Bank Group (RAP) is a comprehensive assessment of World Bank Group performance, drawing on recent IEG evaluations. The rep
The novelty of this work is the fact that it introduces a rigorous and objective economic perspective of current renewable energy support mechanisms and an empirical analysis of the strengths and weak
This publication briefly describes the processes and methodologies for building and sustaining multistakeholder coalition to drive reforms in the health sector. It is based on the experiences of three
In recent years, global value chains have played an increasingly important role in business strategies, profoundly affecting international trade and development paradigms. Global value chains now repr
H.M. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development stated that ‘the impact of helping migrants and their families will be l
The book describes the findings of a study to develop an open-access crop-climate impact modeling platform (Agroecological Zone Simulator - AZS) for the Latin American region and the use of the AZS pl
Urban agriculture offers important contributions to sustainable urban development and poverty reduction in cities. Although urban agriculture cannot be expected to meet the food consumption requiremen
This Users Guide targets researchers and policy practitioners working on social protection issues and/or private transfers. It is a companion how-to guide for ADePT Social Protection, a software that
