This paper examines the role of social
safety-net programs in Bangladesh run by the government and
nongovernmental organizations to mitigate seasonal
deprivation in the country's highly vulnerable
northwest region. Specifically, the paper explores whether
social safety nets are limited to averting seasonal
deprivation or can also address seasonality of income and
employment more generally. Using a recent survey from the

This paper examines international
experience with mobilizing funding for both capital and
recurrent costs for municipal infrastructure with a view to
identifying areas where India could improve its system of
financing infrastructure in cities. Based on international
data, the analysis shows that there is indeed a wide range
of models for funding municipal infrastructure across a
group even as relatively homogeneous as the European Union.

Asia's green revolution in rice was
transformational and improved the lives of millions of poor
households. Rice has become an increasingly important part
of African diets and imports of rice have grown. Agronomists
point out that large areas in Africa are well suited for
rice and are encouraged by the field tests of new rice
varieties. So is Africa poised for its own green revolution
in rice? This study reviews the recent literature on rice

The 1998 edition of world development
indicators initiated a series of annual reports on progress
toward the International development goals. In the foreword
then, World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn recognized
that 'by reporting regularly and systematically on
progress toward the targets the international community has
set for itself, the author will focus attention on the task
ahead and make those responsible for advancing the

East Asia has recovered from the
economic and financial crisis. Largely thanks to China, the
region's output, exports and employment have mostly
returned to the levels before the crisis. Leading the global
economy, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in
developing East Asia is poised to rise to 8.7 percent in
2010 after slowing from 8.5 percent in 2008 to 7.0 percent
in 2009. This report also identifies two common regional

The sustainable development of ger areas
in Ulaanbaatar (UB), the capital city of Mongolia, is one of
the critical development issues facing the country. The
transitions to a market economy and a series of severe
winters (called zud) have resulted in the large-scale
migration of low-income families into the ger areas of UB.
The city represents 40 percent of the nation's
population and generates more than 60 percent of

The objective of this study on the
Development of 13 Mozambican Municipalities in Central and
Northern Mozambique is to assess the impact that the 2008
reforms on own-source revenues is having on the municipal
revenue potential. To do so, it calculates the revenue
potential of four fiscal and three non-fiscal revenue
sources. The analysis shows that there is substantial
untapped revenue potential at the municipal level, with

Lesotho began a structural economic
transformation in the early 1990s. The transformation has
brought higher, more secure incomes to households while the
government succeeded in dramatically improving access to
services such as education, health, water, and
transportation. Yet today, Lesotho faces a number of serious
development challenges, including a high rate of chronic
poverty, entrenched income inequality, and most troubling

Economic growth in Solomon Islands since
the end of civil conflict in 2003 has been driven by rapid
expansion of the forestry sector and large increases in
international aid flows. Stocks of natural forest logs are
nearing exhaustion and, as the security situation improves,
aid flows are likely to flatten off. The Solomon Islands
Government asked the World Bank to investigate future growth
prospects. This note summarizes the findings and presents a

The study presents an analysis of the
situation of the Pygmies in Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), including their history and relations with the other,
mainly Bantu, populations. It provides a brief description
of their lifestyle, their socioeconomic status, and a
participatory diagnosis of the key factors that lead to
their current impoverishment and marginalization. The study
discusses the rationale for protecting Pygmy culture and

This paper develops a methodology for
regional disaggregated estimation and mapping of the areas
that are ex-ante the most vulnerable to the impacts of
climate change and variability and applies it to Tajikistan,
a mountainous country highly vulnerable to the impacts of
climate change. The authors construct the vulnerability
index as a function of exposure to climate variability and
natural disasters, sensitivity to the impacts of that

This paper examines the policy options
for India as it seeks to improve living conditions of the
poor on a large scale and reduce the population in slums.
Addressing the problem requires first a diagnosis of the
market at the city level and a recognition that government
interventions, rather than thwarting the operations of the
market, should seek to make it operate better. This can
substantially reduce the subsidies required to assist low