Community-based paralegalism has been
active in the Philippines for the past 30 years, and yet its
contribution to access to justice and the advancement of the
rights and entitlements of the poor has been largely an
undocumented. This paper attempts to provide a framework
study on the history, nature, and scope of paralegal work in
the Philippines, based on the experience of 12 organizations
that are active in the training and development of

This paper examines the current status
of justice and dispute-resolution mechanisms in Bangladesh,
ranging from the formal justice system to the traditional
shalish (a form of dispute resolution), and focuses on the
costs and benefits of utilizing nongovernmental organization
(NGO)-led legal services programs as an alternative form of
justice delivery and dispute resolution for the poor, with a
focus on women and girls. In particular, this paper takes a

Payments for Environmental Services
(PES) are one of the instruments that countries might use to
try to reduce deforestation, and hence receive payments for
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation
(REDD). This paper discusses four aspects related to the use
of PES as an instrument to implement an avoided
deforestation program, based on a review of PES experiences
in Latin America. First, the paper discusses the

The conflicting relationship between
peace and justice is frequently debated in the field of
transitional justice. The obligation to prosecute serious
crimes can contradict the measures necessary to reestablish
peace among society. The predicament gives rise to a
similar, though less obvious, challenge in many developing
countries, where the formal justice system can be at odds
with conflict management initiatives. Often, due to their

This paper examines three systems of
courts of justice, each in a different country in the region
of South Pacific islands known as Melanesia, where state
legal systems have been adopted from former European
colonial governments. The systems discussed are, by
comparison, 'hybrid', each of them having been
established with the intention of addressing disputes among
small-scale social groups by less formal means or by taking

Despite global gender equality gains in
education, life expectancy, and labor force participation,
two areas of persistent inequality remain: asset gaps and
women's agency. In many developing countries, including
Papua New Guinea (PNG), land and natural resources are
citizens' key assets. This briefing note, centered on
field research in north fly district explores the process of
negotiation and the progress in implementation of the

This document provides a gendered
analysis of the horticulture, tourism, and call center
global value chains (GVCs), based on a survey of the
literature and case studies carried out in Honduras, Kenya,
and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The studies focus on export
sectors that have had high female employment and have been
relatively underexplored from the angle of trade and gender
research. The studies show that GVCs and their upgrading

This note on making livelihoods and
social protection approaches gender- sensitive is the
seventh in a series of guidance notes on gender issues in
disaster risk management (DRM) in the East Asia and the
Pacific region. Targeting World Bank staff, clients and
development partners, this note gives an overview of the
main reasons for including gender sensitive social
protection and livelihoods approaches in DRM; it identifies

This paper is a post-conference summary
of the International Conference on Land Policy Reform that
took place in Jarkarta from July 25-27, 2000. The paper
concerns best practice in land administration systems. While
the paper is focussed on world's best practice, it does
so in the context of developing and emerging industrial
countries such as Indonesia which have diverse land tenure
relationships ranging from areas in cities with active land

This report presents the research
findings of the Justice Delivered Locally (JDL) initiative
of Solomon Islands' Ministry of Justice and Legal
Affairs, which was supported by the World Bank's
Justice for the Poor (J4P) program. JDL supports the Solomon
Islands Government (SIG) policy of reinvigorating
local-level justice systems. This is based on an
understanding that developmentally important local

This report details seven
recommendations from the International Environmental and
Social Panel of Experts for the Nam Theun 2 (NT2)
Multipurpose Project in the Lao People s Democratic
Republic. 1) Watershed Management and Protection Authority
(WMPA) conservation patrols will be repeated at least once a
month, including the wet season. 2) The provincial and
central government authorities will take effective action to

To ensure sustainable and optimal use of
its common property natural resources, Mexico will need to
strengthen its focus on enhancing stewardship in three key
sectors-forests, water, and energy resources. The key
objectives include the following: 1) identifying options
that would contribute to Mexico's climate agenda and
build social resilience through forest management; 2)
ensuring economically efficient and environmentally and