The Deputy Minister of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR), addressed the Committee on the motivation for the amendments to the Extension of security of tenure (land) Amendment Bill, saying the fundamental resolve was to overcome decades of hardship in South Africa. Its redress was not about obsolete political stories, but about the creation of just opportunities.

How worried are people, especially in poorer communities, about the risk that they could lose their homes or their land? The idea behind this initial survey is simple: to find out if people are worried about their existing property rights or lack of them – whether women or men, owners or tenants, in cities or in villages. The survey results reveal that insecurity of property rights is widespread in India, with about one in four owners and about half of renters expressing worry about losing their home.

In recent years, the need to provide title to small units owned by individuals above and under the surface has been increasing. The need for more intensive development on available land, while ensuring security of tenure, has prompted various jurisdictions to search for solutions. Registration of small units is difficult in many jurisdictions due to planning regulations, which regulate minimum parcel sizes on the ground surface.

This strategic framework serves to guide and support the operational response of the World Bank Group (WBG) to new development challenges posed by global climate change. Unabated, climate change threatens to reverse hard-earned development gains. The poorest countries and communities will suffer the earliest and the most. Yet they depend on actions by other nations, developed and developing. While climate change is an added cost and risk to development, a well-designed and implemented global climate policy can also bring new economic opportunities to developing countries.

This report provides an assessment of accounting, financial reporting and auditing requirements and practices within the enterprise and financial sectors in Armenia. The report uses International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) formerly International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Standards on Auditing (ISA) as benchmarks and draws on international experience and good practices in the field of accounting and audit regulation, including in European Union (EU) member states, to assess the quality of financial information and make policy recommendations.

James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group, reassessed the global financial architecture and its impact on Latin America. Latin American countries, being small economies, are very vulnerable to world pressures. After a huge drop in private sector finance, we’re seeing the first signs of return. What we need now is greater transparency and supervision in banking and the private sector—and a better common set of principles and standards. We need decent government, trained government, with capacity at all levels. We need legal systems that work.

World Bank Group President, James Wolfensohn addressed the Board of Governors. In the past year the Bank launched a new initiative—the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF). The aim was to bring the social and the structural aspects of development together with the macroeconomic and the financial so as to establish a much more balanced and effective approach. The Bank will work with the broad development community—the United Nations, the European Union, bilaterals, regional development banks, civil society, and the private sector—to build genuine partnerships.

The objective of the Ugandan government is to make Uganda an upper - middle income country within thirty years. Economic diversification is a key component of that strategy. The country economic memorandum (CEM) report discusses how the emergence of oil and mineral production can contribute to Uganda’s effort to promote economic diversification as a means to achieve sustainable and shared growth.

This report summarizes the experiences of 19 companies from across the region. Each of the case studies highlights the key corporate governance changes made and the positive impacts that resulted, as reported by the company. The companies represent various countries, sectors, types, and sizes. All of the companies featured are former IFC Advisory Services clients. Some are IFC Investment clients as well. IFC conducted an in-depth corporate governance assessment for each of these companies using IFC’s Corporate Governance Methodology.

Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank, and Ambassador Andrew Young engaged in a roundtable discussion on economic development, moderated by Dean Bahl of Georgia State. Wolfowitz has made Africa the first priority of the Bank. There is really a chance for Africa to turn the corner. It’s going to have to start with the best performers, doing what the so-called Tigers did in East Asia, showing the way for other countries. Young said you can make more money honestly in a growing economy, than you can steal in a dying economy. Wolfowitz gave examples of the turnaround in Africa.

The objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to assess the adequacy and performance of the policy, legal, and institutional framework for environmental management in Ukraine, in light of the decentralization process of environmental governance and wider reform objectives, and to provide recommendations to government to address the key gaps identified. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe and has a population of 43 million, the majority of whom live in urban areas.

This systematic country diagnostic is structured in two main parts, one backward looking and the other forward looking. The backward-looking analysis aims to draw lessons on the determinants of poverty and sustainable and inclusive growth from (a) stakeholder consultations; (b) a poverty profile; (c) a jobs profile; and (d) a review of Cote d’Ivoire’s experience, and a comparison with Ghana and Sri Lanka, countries with similarities to Côte d’Ivoire, but with different growth trajectories.