This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Honduras. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction. Drivers are
defined as the assets and combinations of assets needed by

The report provides detailed information
on the geographical distribution of poverty and
vulnerability throughout the country - i.e. regions,
provinces and communes. The information presented is
essential to understand poverty at the local level, and to
address it with appropriate sectoral or cross-sectoral
strategies. Further, when local poverty rates are analyzed
alongside public expenditure data, an initial assessment for

This report is a review of the Lesotho's financial system covering: i) the macro-financial environment; ii) safety and soundness of the banking system; iii) non-bank financial institutions; and iv) microfinance and finance for small and medium enterprises. The report was based on data and other information collected during the March 2003 mission.

This Country Economic Memorandum is the
first economic report in a decade. It gives priority to
updating knowledge about the evolution of social and
economic developments during the 1990s. It reviewareas of
progress in macroeconomic reforms and the lack of success in
governance and institutional reforms. Substantial reforms
were undertaken in this period , but the civil war continued
to have a serious negative impact on Sudan's people and

This Fisheries Sector Approach Paper has
been written in recognition of the mounting challenges that
the World Bank and the developing world face in meeting the
fishery sector-related Millennium Development Goals and the
outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable
Development. It augments the Bank's Rural Strategy,
Reaching the Rural Poor, which advocates a holistic approach
to rural poverty reduction, and support for equitable

Following the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Moldova faced the deepest and most prolonged
recession among transition countries, and the resulting
increase in poverty has made it the poorest country in
Europe today. The main objective of this report is to update
and assess poverty in Moldova in its multiple dimensions,
with a view to informing public policies. It focuses on the
period of recession that followed the Russian crisis and the

Timor-Leste has achieved enormous
progress in rehabilitating its economy, reconstructing its
infrastructure, reintegrating its refugees and building the
key elements of a sustainable political process in an
environment of internal peace. It now faces many challenges
of nation-building and of overcoming the deprivation
affecting the lives of the poor. This report written in two
volumes lays out the challenge of poverty reduction in

This report provides public policy
makers with the information necessary to develop a rural
infrastructure strategy, it was not intended to represent a
strategy per se, merely to highlight the issues that need
greater consideration in the definition of a strategy. It
starts with an inventory of existing rural infrastructure
assets and a description of current institutional
arrangements. It follows with a snapshot of local

The major constraints to RNF growth,
according to a large survey of rural entrepreneurs,'
include (1) flood and natural disasters; (2) access to
electricity; (3) road conditions, (4) access to finance and
(5) transportation to markets. Bangladesh's
vulnerability to frequent floods and other natural disasters
severely hampers operations of more than a third of rural
firms. The next most important constraint to RNF growth is

This regional study encompasses three
Central American countries: Nicaragua, Guatemala, and
Honduras. The focus of this report is Nicaragua. The
objective of the study is to understand how broad-based
economic growth can be stimulated, and sustained in rural
Central America. The study identifies "drivers" of
sustainable rural growth and poverty reduction, where
drivers are defined as the assets and combinations of assets

In 1989, Albania's rigid political
and socioeconomic structure shattered beyond repair.
Turbulence soon invaded every domain of life. As the state
imploded, so did the state-run economy. This review explores
ongoing consequences of this difficult transformation that
took place since 1989 and of policy initiatives to mitigate
or ameliorate its effects. Albania has been much studied;
the review addresses important information gaps. It

The Water Resources Sector Strategy
(WRSS) supports implementation of the Bank's 1993 Water
Resources Management Policy, using the experience updated
internationally, with water resources and management. This
country Water Resources Assistance Strategy (CWRAS)
identifies the Philippines principal water resource
challenges, the current situation, how the Bank is assisting
at present, and what it should in the future. In summary