The article reviews the latest available statistical information on gender inequalities in labor markets and in access to financial institutions, social services, and education.

There is greater recognition that policies and projects should respect legitimate tenure rights. But this concept has often proved difficult to operationalise. Discusses the meaning and implications of recognising legitimate tenure rights;then outlines ways forward for States;civil society;the private sector;and development agencies.

For many decades communities in West and Central Africa have been facing industrial oil palm plantations encroaching onto their community land. With the false promise of bringing ‘developmentand jobs;corporations;backed up by the support of the governments;have been granted millions of hectares of land under concessions for industrial oil palm plantations. The results of this expansion have been disastrous for communities living in and around these industrial plantations and in particular for women.

• Despite eight years of gradual decline due to low global commodity prices, the mining sector in Lao PDR still constitutes a key source of state revenue and an important destination for foreign direct investment, especially from China, Vietnam and Thailand.

• Economic development through industrial mining has not translated into employment opportunities for local communities.

The study intends to examine the impact of major changes in the tourism policy of Bhutan adopted in 2005 as a ‘Sustainable Tourism Development Policy’. A genuine effort was made to investigate the possible presence of a long-run relationship between tourism and economic growth using the Johansen method of cointegration and vector error correction mechanism. The international tourists' arrival and GDP per capita were used as proxies for tourism expansion and economic growth respectively.

La présente étude vise à évaluer le fonctionnement du Fonds de Développement Local (FDL) de la Série de Développement Communautaire de l’UFA Pokola au Congo. Elle se base sur la revue documentaire, des entretiens semi-structurés avec les personnes ressources, les responsables de ménages ainsi que la tenue des focus groups. Les résultats indiquent que les communautés locales et populations autochtones (CLPA) sont impliquées dans les organes de gestion de la Série de Développement Communautaire, organes responsables de la gestion du FDL.

Este documento se presenta como aporte de la FAO en Colombia a través del Proyecto Gobernanza y Paz, que cuenta con el apoyo de la Embajada de Italia y la Agencia Italiana de Cooperación para el Desarrollo.

HIGHLIGHTS

The Nepal Development Update is produced annually with two main aims: to report on key economic developments over the preceding months, placing them in a longer term and global perspective; and to examine (in the Special Focus section) topics of particular policy significance. The Update is intended for a wide audience including policymakers, business leaders, the community of analysts and professionals engaged in economic debates, and the general public.

Countries in Southeast Asia have been developing quickly from a predominantly rural to predominantly urban society, leading to a rapid increase in urban land. This increase in urban land has mainly occurred in river deltas and floodplains, exposing humans and human assets to flood hazard. Here we present an assessment of current and future flood risk in five countries of mainland Southeast Asia, using a new modeling approach that accounts for differences in urban land systems.

The paper aims to deepen our understanding of the relationship and the impact of creative actors on regional development and investigates the nexus between them. The novelty of the paper lies in constructing an original criteria matrix of creative actors’ indicators which might serve as a basis for further research and policy implications. The original criteria matrix consists of two groups of indicators measuring the creative people and creative capital in the region, their mutual relationships and impact on regional development.