Reducing poverty continues to be one of
the main priorities of the Government of Albania. Currently,
Albania has an ample platform to provide social protection
to its citizens through social insurance, social assistance
and employment programs. However, these programs are not
efficiently linked to each other, which can lead to unclear
and occasionally overlapping roles among the programs. Among
these social protection programs, Ndihma Ekonomike (NE) is

This report summarizes the findings of
the study on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa
(CCAA). The objective of the CCAA study was to explore the
feasibility of restoring international competitiveness and
growth in African agriculture through the identification of
products and production systems that can underpin rapid
development of a competitive commercial agriculture. The
CCAA study focused on the agricultural potential of

This note aims at providing feedback on
Brazil's successful experience in using performance
based contracts in the rehabilitation and maintenance of the
road networks. Since its introduction in the early
2000's, the use of this contract management model has
progressively spread to reach, as of today, one third of the
federal network and more than 10 percent of the states'
networks, and expectations are for higher figures in the

This Agriculture Public Expenditure
Review (AgPER) comprehensively reviews public expenditures
on agriculture in Uganda and analyzes their efficiency and
effectiveness. Its genesis lies in Agriculture Sector
Working Group (A-SWG) discussions, especially during the
budget process, which raised concerns about the seemingly
low budget allocations to the sector and the failure to
align limited resources with recognized priorities in the

This introductory section explains the
rationale for the guidance note, reflecting on the relevance
of food prices in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC),
their impact on the poor and the effect that logistics and
transport costs have on those prices. Based upon that
framework, the note provides an overview of the logistics
and transport hurdles faced by importers and consumers in
the region as food products move through the logistics

Sudan is in the 10th year of its longest
and strongest growth episode since independence, benefiting
from the advent of oil in 1999. This report proposes a
growth strategy for Sudan that reduces its dependence on
oil, while building an economic foundation for a
diversified, inclusive and sustainable growth path.
Specifically, Sudan's near term strategy should focus
on: a) developing and maintaining the necessary enabling

The primary aim of this evaluation is to
develop lessons from the Bank’s experience in the three
selected countries of Columbia, Tunisia, and Turkey
regarding assistance aimed at employment creation and
earnings growth. The evaluation focuses on employment
creation and earnings growth because these have a strong
bearing on the extent to which the central objective of
poverty reduction is achieved. The evaluation assesses the

Regional disparities present an ever
present development challenge in most countries, especially
those with large geographic areas under their jurisdiction.
A neglect of these inequities may create the potential for
disunity and, in extreme cases, for disintegration. In view
of this, most countries actively pursue policies with a view
to helping lagging regions catch up with faster growing
regions. These policies have at best a mixed record of

This study examines the mining
sector's potential to contribute to economic growth
with governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the
past, mining has been the main engine of the Congo economy.
But the revenues and other benefit streams generated by the
sector over the years have not been used in a wise or
sustainable fashion, largely due to key problems with sector
governance. During the past ten years of civil war and

Municipalities in Mozambique were
established by law in 1997 and elected in 1998 for the first
time, only a few years after the peace agreement. Most
inherited archaic and dysfunctional remnants of colonial and
central government systems and infrastructure, and as such
limited progress was achieved in transforming them into
functioning local governments during the first mandate
(1998-2002). During the second mandate (2003-2008), however,

Sana'a is located in an upland
basin at an altitude of 2300 meters within a mountainous and
semi-arid region of Yemen. Because of its high altitude, the
city enjoys a moderate climate year around. The main rainy
season is in summer. The nearest port is Hodeidah, roughly
250 kilometers away. Bound by mountains and steep slopes to
the east and west, the city has few options but to expand
primarily along its north and south axes within its basin.

This study examines agricultural and
rural development (ARD) public expenditures in Mexico. The
study is based on federal public expenditures. The study is
structured in six parts as follows: the first part presents
the Mexican ARD context in terms of policy and performance.
The second part dissects the ARD public budget, classifying
expenditure programs in various ways so as to provide an
overview of the scope and composition of ARD spending. The