Women in Ghana face many of the same constraints
to economic participation that affect
millions of women across the continent.
These constraints include large gender gaps
in access to productive inputs, time spent on
domestic chores, and the quality and number
of jobs and other opportunities available. This
is harmful to not only women but also families,
communities, and economies.

El Salvador is the smallest country in
Central America, and one of the most densely populated in
the world. El Salvador is among the countries most affected
by weather-related events and other hazards, incurring
annual losses of around 2.5 percent of GDP. Worldwide, it
ranks second highest for risk exposure to two or more
hazards and highest for the total population at a relatively
high risk of mortality. Furthermore, climate change is

This note reviews the role legal aid can
play as a catalyst to empower and strengthen the livelihoods
of the poor in a World Bank-funded project in the Indian
state of Andhra Pradesh (AP), the AP Rural Poverty Reduction
Project. This note shows how land-related legal aid
activities can be implemented to support community-driven
development project objectives. Initial evidence on the
positive impacts of legal aid on economic and social

Urbanization is occurring rapidly in
Melanesia at 3-4 percent per annum. Due to unaffordable land
and housing in formal urban areas, new migrants settle on
marginal land without formal legal titles (‘informal
settlements’). These settlements are growing and new
settlements are emerging within and on the outskirts of
towns and cities across Melanesia, at a rate that outpaces
efforts to serve them. Settlements in the Melanesian

After long suffering from benign neglect
if not outright contempt, industrial policy is almost
fashionable again. The global financial and economic crisis
known as the Great Recession has forced researchers and
policy makers to confront the reality that market forces
alone generally do not lead to (constrained)
Pareto-efficient outcomes. Many important national and
global policy objectives (equality of opportunity for all

Convenient access to safe water is
central to human health and development. Water-borne disease
remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the
world, much of which could be eliminated by a combination of
better water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH). The WHO
estimates that around 502 000 deaths a year in low and
middle income countries from diarrheal disease are
attributable to unsafe water, and that over 1 000 children

Road construction has often been viewed
as the precursor to deforestation, especially in tropical
forests. Traditional responses to such threats have been
reactive, with attempts to mitigate impacts through physical
measures, or the establishment of protected areas. These
approaches often have not been entirely successful,
especially in areas where economic potential is significant.
This paper seeks to mitigate such conflicts by proposing a

This article examines the effect of
water pricing policies on farmers’ water saving behaviors,
using original water user group (WUG) data from a reservoir
irrigation system in China. The introduction of volumetric
water pricing at the group level, to replace area-based
pricing, induces institutional change to prevent each
member’s overuse of water when the volumetric price levels
are moderate. Depending on the initial conditions, the

This report assesses the impact of
participation in farmer organizations (FOs) on food security
of rural households in Cambodia. The study is particularly
set out to following: (1) examine FOs’ roles and operation
and challenges for improving household’s food security; (2)
analyze household’s characteristics that determine
participation in FOs; (3) assess the impact of FOs on food
security and livelihood of the rural poor; and (4) provide

The Government of Punjab, through
Government of India’s (GoI) Department of Economic Affairs
(DEA) had requested the World Bank to provide non-lending
technical assistance (NLTA) to provide high quality basic
urban civic amenities to the residents of cities of Ludhiana
and Amritsar in the areas of: water supply, sewerage, storm
water drainage, solid waste management, and modern urban
transport system. The study is expected to recommend

This report presents a brief discussion
of indigenous peoples’ development as evidenced in a select
number of case studies about World Bank financed projects
that had a positive impact on indigenous peoples’
communities. The main objective of this study is to identify
and document good practices and lessons learned that can be
shared with World Bank staff, borrower governments, and
Indigenous Peoples’ organizations to help improve the design

This paper uses evidence from three
Indian states, one of which amended inheritance legislation
in 1994, to assess first- and second-generation effects of
inheritance reform using a triple-difference strategy.
Second-generation effects on education, time use, and health
are larger and more significant than first-generation
effects even controlling for mothers' endowments.
Improved access to bank accounts and sanitation as well as