James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank Group, addressed the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund. He discussed the context in which
the Bank operates today; the role of the Bank in
development now, and in the coming years; what the Bank can
do to achieve its objectives in an effective and accountable

This paper provides a brief overview of the postal network reform in Azerbaijan and transformation of Azerpost, Azerbaijan’s state postal operator, into an efficient platform for basic financial services delivery throughout the country.

This report provides a review of the Armenian mining sector, and assesses its potential to contribute to sustainable economic growth and development. Based on the findings, it provides recommendations for initiatives and actions for the future development of the sector. The report was produced in the period October 2015 to April 2016.

Examines 8 reasons why addressing housing, land and property issues is important in humanitarian response, including: addressing loss of land or inability to return to land and homes after disasters, and protecting women and supporting their recovery.

Agriculture sector performance in Serbia is characterized by both stagnant sector growth and a substantial increase in agricultural exports. This report describes the reasons for this paradox and its implications for future sector policy. Observed export growth is narrowly based, despite Serbia’s potential to produce and export a range of crop and livestock products. This export growth has been offset by stagnation or long-term contraction elsewhere in the sector. Current agricultural policy is not conducive to more broad based growth.

This Policy Note looks at impacts of European Union accession on agriculture and rural sectors, taking into account specific sectoral features and policy choices pre- and post-accession. The most important lesson learned from recently acceded member states is that policy choices before accession will largely determine whether the agriculture sector will be able to fully reap the benefits of EU membership, by expanding trade, or will struggle in the face of increased market pressure.

Despite its challenging circumstances,
Bangladesh has proven to be remarkably resilient and
achieved significant human development gains. The country
partnership framework (CPF) will refocus the World Bank
Group’s (WBG’s) strategic direction on removing stubborn
impediments to job creation and growth. The CPF will build
on a well-performing portfolio, particularly in human
development, identified by the systematic country diagnostic

The WBG’s Colombia Systematic Country
Diagnostic (SCD) analyzed key constraints and opportunities
that will impact Colombia’s development in the context of
three defining country characteristics. They include uneven
territorial development, a long standing armed conflict and
a growth process led by extractive industries. The Colombia
Country Partnership Framework (CPF) proposes to address
these complex development challenges with a flexible,

The objective of this Systematic Country
Diagnostic (SCD) is to identify the priority constraints
Bolivia faces in sustaining its gains on reducing poverty
and enhancing shared prosperity over the next years. It will
analyze the dynamics behind the progress achieved in the
past decade on inclusive growth, and identify a number of
key constraints for sustaining and consolidating this
progress. The SCD begins, in Chapter two, with a

This report presents the results of a randomized evaluation larger pool of 452 eligible candidates within the 14 CRP
of the impact of the Community Rangers Program 'treatment' communities, 280 such youths were randomly
(CRP), a community-based forest protection program selected to serve as rangers and 172 were assigned to a
implemented in Aceh, Indonesia, in 2011-14. Fauna and control group. Additional observational analysis and data
Flora International (FFt) implemented the CRP with funding collected in the non-CRP treatment Leuser National Park

This report is on possible improvements
on management of revenues from auctioning of European Union
Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) allowances and use of
flexibility mechanisms in Romania. The principal objective
of this report is to propose improvements on management of
revenue from the auctioning of EU ETS allowances, as well as
describe possible use of flexibility mechanisms in Romania,
in order to mobilize and enable both public and private

In support of the Climate Change and Low
Carbon Green Growth Program of Romania (LCGGP), the World
Bank has prepared the current report with the aim of helping
the Romanian Government to operationalize the strategic path
chosen by the country for implementing its National Climate
Change and Low Carbon Green Growth Strategy 2016-20302
(NSCC) and the associated 2016-2020 Action Plan for Climate
Change (APCC). This includes some relevant institutional