This study builds a profile of the
status of poverty and vulnerability in Malawi. Malawi is a
small land-locked country, with one of the highest
population densities in Sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the
lowest per capita income levels in the world. Almost 90
percent of the population lives in rural areas, and is
mostly engaged in smallholder, rain-fed agriculture. Most
people are therefore highly vulnerable to annual rainfall

This paper argues that inclusive growth
analytics has a distinct character focusing on both the pace
and pattern of growth. Traditionally, applied
country-specific poverty and growth analyses have been done
separately. This paper describes the conceptual elements for
an analytical strategy aimed to integrate these two strands
of analyses, and to identify and prioritize country-specific
constraints to sustained and inclusive growth. The authors

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 report presents a comprehensive
analysis of poverty and its main determinants using the most
recent 2007 Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) data.
It provides an in-depth analysis of rural poverty, the
linkages between labor markets and poverty, the importance
of social transfers for poverty alleviation, and the
progress made since 2003 in the health and education
sectors, and also presents some findings on incomes trends

This policy note focuses on analyzing
critical institutional and planning issues affecting
Dhaka's Metropolitan Area, and suggests policy
recommendations for introducing sound urban environmental
planning to improve the quality of life by mitigating and
reversing environmental degradation. The report concludes
with urgent recommended actions to address gaps in urban
planning and environmental management that focus on

Son preference is known to be found in
certain types of cultures, that is patrilineal cultures. But
what explains the fact that China, South Korea, and
Northwest India manifest such extreme child sex ratios
compared with other patrilineal societies? This paper argues
that what makes these societies unique is that their
pre-modern political and administrative systems used
patrilineages to organize and administer their citizens. The

In late 2008 the Republic of Armenia
requested the Bank's assistance to mitigate the impact
of the global financial crisis. This technical note
describes how the Lifeline Road Improvement Project (LRIP)
was prepared and implemented as a Rapid Response Project,
prepared in only six weeks. This project saw over 150 km of
roads improved and almost 12,000 person-months of employment
generated during an eight month period between May to

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,

This document builds upon several recent
studies and reports carried out in the 2006-2007 period. The
first note, entitled analysis of housing supply mechanisms
(World Bank), analyzes the situation of housing supply in
urban areas in Egypt, including the study of existing formal
and informal mechanisms for the delivery of urban housing,
the institutions responsible for supply and regulation, the
characteristics of the formal and informal stock, and the

This year's annual review of
development effectiveness (ARDE) is being written against
the backdrop of a global financial crisis, declining growth,
and massive fiscal stimulus efforts to revitalize markets.
Demand for greater development support from the World Bank
has grown, along with concerns that resources be used
effectively and efficiently to achieve their development
objectives. This ARDE focuses on the Bank's performance

This paper uses district level data to
estimate the general relationship between climate, income
and life expectancy in Peru. The analysis finds that both
incomes and life expectancy show hump-shaped relationships,
with optimal average annual temperatures around 18-20ºC.
These estimated relationships were used to simulate the
likely effects of both past (1958-2008) and future
(2008-2058) climate change. At the aggregate level, future

This report attempts to diagnose
existing constraints and prospects for growth in
people's incomes in South Kordofan. Given the breadth
and depth of difficulties facing the state, the focus is on
identifying the key areas of reform, or binding constraints,
to growth. There is a combination of extremely low social
returns, the prevalence of government and market failures,
the weak investment climate and the limited access to