This report focuses on the nexus of
environment and gender equality, defined as equality of
access to and control over natural resources and development
benefits; and equality of access to decision-making and
representation for environmental and natural resources
management process. The report provides recommendations to
expand women's opportunities to own land; expand
men's and women's knowledge and participation in

This policy note was prepared in
response to a request from the Government of Southern Sudan
(GoSS) for World Bank assistance in developing legislative
and institutional policies and strategies that will take
advantage of the potential of the region's forest
resources to contribute to poverty alleviation, food
security, sustainable agriculture, economic growth, and to
protection of forest-related environmental services such as

The report is structured as follows.
Section one examines the contribution of the rural economy
to the national economy, the structure of the farm and
non-farm sectors and their relative importance. Section two
describes policies and constraints affecting the wider rural
economy including, reforms in macro-economic management,
recent external influences and financial services before
discussing those which relate specifically to agriculture

Doing Business 2007: How to reform is
the fourth in a series of annual reports investigating the
regulations that enhance business activity and those that
constrain it. Doing Business presents quantitative
indicators on business regulations and the protection of
property rights that can be compared across 175
economies-from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe-and over time. This
publication points out how regulations affecting 10 areas of

The Ghana Country Environment Analysis
(CEA) has thus been formulated to assist the Government of
Ghana and its development partners to: (a) assess the
country's environmental priorities in key sectors, the
environmental implications of key economic and sector
policies, and the country's institutional capacity to
address them; and (b) find practical management,
institutional, and policy solutions to handle issues of

Forest-sector collaborative arrangements
come in many forms. The local partner may be a community, an
association, or a set of individual landholders. The outside
partner may be a private organization or a government. The
interest of the local partner may be production of income
from the forest, security of access to land, increased labor
or small business opportunities, protection of traditionally
valued resources, or other values. The interest of the

Bangladesh has recorded impressive
economic and social gains since the 1990s. Recent growth has
been at levels close to six percent. The country has doubled
per capita growth and taken large strides toward reaching
many Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), ahead of many
comparable countries. Attaining the MDGs calls for
accelerating economic growth to six-seven percent a year.
Accordingly, Bangladesh's Poverty Reduction Strategy

This publication focuses on public
finance, development economics, and the Chinese economy. The
government will focus on the public good aspects of
education and training-compulsory education and some aspects
of higher education and training. The publication encourages
seven reforms including raising government expenditure on
education to four percent of gross domestic product (GDP),
and ensuring that all children actually receive nine years

The Government of China has placed
strong emphasis on addressing problems related to
agriculture, farmers, and rural society, with the
development of a "new socialist countryside"
designated as a top priority for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan
(2006-2010). The financing of public services in rural
areas will be a key determinant of the Plan's success.
This report analyzes the performance of the

This report aims to assist the
government in improving implementation of the New Socialist
Countryside (NSC) program, especially in raising the
effectiveness of public expenditures, and the harmonization
of public finance. While this report pays particular
attention to rural aspects of public finance, it addresses
this topic within the overall framework of intergovernmental
finance that impacts both rural and urban areas. Similarly,

This history illustrates a number of
themes encountered in Swaziland that faces developing
countries and their external partners in Africa and beyond.
Firstly, the history relates the experience of a small and
comparatively insular country in addressing complex
challenges deriving from rapid urbanization and, as a
result, the growing need to adapt governance systems and
structures. A second key issue is the challenge that small

Expanding housing finance to the
underserved in South Asia, a first regional effort on the
topic, examines housing needs and shortages in South Asia,
and outlines shortcomings of the market for home mortgages.
The primary purpose of this book is to pull together housing
and housing finance information for the countries of South
Asia. Housing and housing finance data have been scarce in
most countries in the region, preventing policy makers,