It is acknowledged that conflict over land is a major source of violence in various parts of Mindanao, particularly the prosed Bangsamoro region. Historical accounts trace the root cause of land issues and identity-based conflict to the introduction of the Regalian doctrine of land ownership by Spanish colonizers. During the American colonial regime at the turn of the 20th century, dispossession of land held by the original inhabitants of Mindanao accelerated, with an emphasis of titling lands for private ownership that clashed with the tradition of ancestral domain.

The countries of East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) are among the most vulnerable in the world to the physical, social, and economic effects of natural disasters. Disaster impacts are not distributed uniformly within a population. Due to existing socio-economic conditions, cultural beliefs and traditional practices, women and men are affected differently. In many cases, the mortality rates for women in the aftermath of a disaster are much higher than those of men.

Vietnam's rapid and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction in the last two decades benefitted from the policy and legal reforms embodied in the Land Laws of 1987, 1993 and 2003 and subsequent related legal acts. This note outlines reforms related to four main themes. The first relates to the needed reform for agriculture land use to create opportunity to enhance effectiveness of land use as well as to secure farmers' rights in land use. Prolonging the duration of agricultural land tenure would give land users greater incentives to invest and care for the land.

This publication is the product of a multi-year cluster analytical and advisory work on social and land conflict management of the World Bank office in Hanoi, which aimed to assist Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to improve the land acquisition and conversion process to achieve more sustainable development during the current rapid urbanization and industrialization process.

This report begins by documenting the Palestinian Authority's (PA's) ongoing fiscal crisis that threatens its ability to provide basic services to the population. In 2011, the PA required about US$1.5 billion dollars in budget support, of which US$200 million to cover development expenses not funded directly by donors. However, it only received about US$814 million in budget support and US$169 million in development financing, for a total of US$983 million.

Sustainable economic growth and strong institutions are interlinked, and the present report summarizes recent economic and fiscal developments in West Bank and Gaza (WB&G) as well as providing a broad overview of institutional accomplishments to date. The present report begins by discussing the apparent slowdown in economic growth in WB&G and the current fiscal crisis facing the Palestinian Authority (PA)-resulting partly from lower-than-expected external support this year.

This paper provides an overview of land reform in South Africa from 1994 to 2011, with the focus on the land redistribution. The government policies and associated implementation since 1994 have not generated expected social and economic results for a number of reasons. Even where land has been transferred, it appears to have had minimal impact on the livelihoods of beneficiaries, largely because of inappropriate project design, a lack of necessary support services and shortages of working capital, leading to widespread underutilization of land.

Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 10 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

This policy note assesses the performance of existing land administration and management (LAM) system in the Philippines in creating an environment for competitive cities. It looks at the influence of LAM (including property rights) in the proper functioning of land markets in urban areas; the effectiveness of land use planning and regulations in shaping urban growth, reducing informality, and improving efficiency in use of space; and the impacts of property valuation and taxation practices in generating revenues to finance local development plans.

This policy note has two goals. First, to assess whether inclusive business models face specific regulatory hurdles. Second, to recommend policies that creates a business environment conducive to inclusive business. Little research has been conducted on the first goal. This note analyzes survey answers from companies that applied to the G20 Challenge. These companies were asked to rank regulatory obstacles and explain whether these obstacles created significant hurdles to their ability to serve the base of the pyramid.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the World Bank Group's (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development [IBRD], International Development Association [IDA], and International Finance Corporation [IFC]) effectiveness in promoting growth in agricultural productivity in Azerbaijan, and to derive lessons that may be relevant for the World Bank Group's future engagement in Azerbaijani agriculture.

Uganda has started its journey into urbanization and economic development. The pace of urbanization is picking up currently at 4.5 percent per year, and likely to accelerate with rising incomes. The economic benefits from urban growth will come from exploiting economies of scale and agglomeration and by increasing fluidity in factor markets that enable substitution between land and non land inputs.