The world's worst nuclear accident
occurred in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, releasing at least
100 times as much radiation as the atomic bombs dropped on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The most affected country was
Belarus, for which the environmental, health, and other
consequences of the Chernobyl accident were disastrous. The
present report reveals that notable differences exist
between zones with relatively mild levels of contamination

This report examines the effect of
gender on socio-economic outcomes in three Caribbean
countries: the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.
Organized in three separate country notes, it covers:
demographics, health and reproductive health, violence,
education, labor and agriculture. The report is part of a
large effort aimed at establishing a strategic social agenda
in the region. Many of the key economic issues that

After almost a decade of high-level
effort to bring the charges (tariffs) that farmers pay for
electricity more nearly into line with the costs of supply,
India has barely made a dent in the longstanding and
increasingly uneconomical practice of subsidizing power to
agricultural consumers for irrigation. Progress has been
slowed by the understandable but misplaced concern that
higher tariffs would harm farmers--and that the injured

This Health Sector Note is the result of
the first phase of an open, participatory three-step process
for developing the Health Sector Policy and Strategic Plan
(HSPSP), and serves as the preliminary basis for further
rounds of discussions, and analyses among stakeholders, to
arrive at a strategic vision for the national health sector.
The socioeconomic situation is reviewed, stipulating Eritrea
remains one of the poorest countries in the world, where

How to address the link between
environmental regulation and trade was an important part of
discussions at the World Trade Organization Ministerial in
Doha, Qatar in November 2001. Trade ministers agreed to
launch negotiations on trade and the environment,
specifically clarification of WTO rules. The authors address
an important part of the background context for deciding
whether or how to link trade agreements to the environment

A history of repeated external and
domestic shocks has made economic insecurity a major concern
across the Caribbean region. Of particular concern to all
households, especially the poorest segments of the
population, is the exposure to shocks that are generated by
catastrophic events or natural disasters. The author shows
that despite high consumption growth, the Caribbean region
suffers from a high volatility of consumption that decreases

The literature argues that the presence
of multiple veto players (government decisionmakers) with
polarized interests increases the credibility of sovereign
commitments, but reduces the ability of governments to
adjust policies in the event of exogenous shocks that
jeopardize their ability to honor their commitments. In the
case of sovereign lending, if the first effect prevails,
countries would be regarded as more creditworthy; if the

Over two decades, the World Bank has
undertaken many structural adjustment operations with
governments of developing countries. During negotiations for
structural adjustment loans (SALs), partner governments
agree to specific policy reforms, whose implementation
becomes a condition for disbursement of SAL funds.
Conditionality varies with local circumstances, but
generally supports privatization of state enterprises,

Most efforts to trace the effects of
income inequality on growth have focused on redistribution.
However, empirical investigation has not substantiated
either the positive association of income inequality with
redistribution or the negative association of redistribution
with economic growth. The authors analyze the effects of
inequality in the broader context of social polarization.
They argue that social polarization, whether rooted in

This has to be accomplished against a
background of high illiteracy rates, rapidly growing
populations, low and erratic rainfall, inherently infertile
soils, and development strategies which have had a strong
urban bias. Under such conditions, traditional production
systems are unable to sustain the population. Without
significant change, land degradation will accelerate and the
natural resource base on which agricultural production

The note reviews the cultural role of
traditional healers in communities in Ghana, and Zambia, as
one of the best hopes for treating, and stemming the spread
of AIDS. However, healers rely on medicinal plants which
have significantly decreased, as their habitats are lost
through deforestation, cultivation, overgrazing, burning
droughts, and desertification among others. This has been
exacerbated by poor management of local, and international

Bhutan has shown remarkable economic
performance over the last two decades. Growth during the
second half of the 1990s was particularly strong, with
annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth averaging 6.5
percent. A large part of this performance has been supported
by generous inflows of foreign aid and buoyant electricity
exports to India, which have spurred growth both directly by
expanding export earnings and indirectly by stimulating