Water is everyone's business.
Beside a necessity for living, water has implications on
public health and, most importantly, can cause social
conflicts. This is because water is limited, is difficult to
control, and can easily be polluted. The Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM) process is considered worldwide
as a means to reduce social conflicts from competing water
needs as well as to facilitate effective and sustainable

The East Asia region is highly prone to
the impacts of natural disasters. Situated in the ring of
fire, countries in the region are regularly hit by typhoons,
earthquakes, floods, and other events. Natural disasters can
have major impacts on the social and economic welfare of a
population, and often pose serious obstacles in the
achievement of sustainable social and economic development.
Moreover, impacts from disasters are not uniformly

This study reports on in-depth case
studies of dzud (extreme cold weather during winter,
subsequent to a very dry summer) impacts and responses.
Focus groups, key informant interviews, a household survey,
and photovoice, were used to document individual and
community experiences with dzud, and identify the factors
that make some households and communities more vulnerable,
and some less vulnerable, to the impacts of dzud, and the

The West African Mineral Sector
Strategic Assessment (WAMSSA) is a strategic environmental
and social assessment intended to identify policy,
institutional, and regulatory adjustments required to
integrate environmental and social considerations into
mineral sector development in Africa. The study focused on
three Mano River Union (MRU) countries, Guinea, Liberia, and
Sierra Leone, all categorized as mineral-rich countries

While polluted surface water is
encountered across most of China, few economic valuation
studies have been conducted on water quality changes.
Limited information about the economic values associated
with those potential water quality improvements or
deteriorations is a disadvantage for making proper choices
in water pollution control and clean-up activities. This
paper reports an economic valuation study conducted in

This report presents the problem,
describes the analytical framework, the African and World
context and the characteristics that need to be present for
a responsible and effective urbanization. Chapter one
discusses the issues involved in measuring urban growth and
density and the problem of under-measuring density. Chapter
two introduces key aspects of the recent urbanization in
Tanzania, including migration, structure of economy and

This report describes theTransforming
Settlements of the Urban Poor in Uganda. A Secondary Cities
Support Program (TSUPU), is the first national initiative
within the Cities Alliance's global programme, Land,
Services and Citizenship for the Urban Poor (LSC). The first
premise of the Medium Term Strategy is that the Cities
Alliance should prioritise working with those governments
already committed to change and reform over time for three

In 2006-07, the Water and Sanitation
Program (WSP) initiated research to identify barriers to
service delivery for the urban poor. The findings of the
research have been presented in the Guidance Notes on
Improving Water Supply and Sanitation Services to the Urban
Poor in India. The Urban Global Practice Team of WSP decided
to expand the ambit of this research to a global context as
the learnings were relevant to experiences across Africa,

The main objective of the Senegal
Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to reinforce the
ongoing dialogue on environmental issues between the World
Bank and the Government of Senegal. The CEA also aims to
support the ongoing Government implementation of a strategic
results-based planning process at the Environment Ministry
(MEPNBRLA). The main goal is to enable Senegal to have the
necessary tools to attain the Millennium Development Goals

This series "New Frontiers of
Social Policy" aims to promote social development
through systematic attention to the underlying social
context and the social outcomes of development interventions
and public policy. This book series has been conceived and
produced for the broader development community, rather than
for social policy specialists alone. This book is
particularly, although not exclusively, relevant to those

The Strategic Environmental and Social
Assessment (SESA) of the mining sector in Sierra Leone was
undertaken in response to the Government of Sierra
Leone's (GOSL) request for assistance in developing its
minerals policy. The SESA will help meet long-term country
development by integrating environmental and social
considerations in mining sector reforms. The crucial aspect
of the SESA process is that the environmental and social

Poor governance is a major impediment to
achieving development outcomes of the forest sector. It
results in losses of income, employment, government
revenues, and local and global environmental services.
However, at present, no comprehensive guide to reforming
forest governance has been developed. Although usually it is
relatively easy to recognize that the forest sector in a
country is failing to deliver all its potential benefits,