This paper describes the key challenges
to job creation in conflict-affected environments in South
Asia. It uses household survey data since the early 2000s
for Afghanistan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to document the
characteristics of labor markets in conflict-affected areas,
exploiting the spatial and time variation in armed conflict
within countries. The analysis finds that, across countries,
labor markets look very different in conflict-affected areas

The objective of the Nepal Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) is to evaluate the investment climate in Nepal in all its dimensions and promote policies to strengthen the private sector. The investment climate is made up of many dimensions that shape the opportunities for investments, employment creation, and growth of private firms. Such dimensions include factor markets, product markets, infrastructure services, and the macroeconomic, legal, regulatory, and institutional framework.

The report is divided into two volumes.
The first volume includes the fundamental content of the
report. It is organized as follows. Chapter one provides a
conceptual framework to analyze risk and vulnerability and
provides a definition of social protection. Chapter two
assesses the main risks faced by the Malagasy population as
well as its vulnerability profile. Chapter three reviews
Madagascar's social protection policies, the

This study examines the major
constraints of rural business entry and performance in
Yemen. The Yemen rural investment climate survey made it
possible to analyze rural investment climate constraints for
rural businesses. The survey was used to investigate both
farm and nonfarm rural enterprises. The rural investment
climate was assessed using a combination of subjective
impressions related by rural entrepreneurs, and a more

Today, 370 million people live in cities
in earthquake prone areas and 310 million in cities with
high probability of tropical cyclones. By 2050, these
numbers are likely to more than double. Mortality risk
therefore is highly concentrated in many of the world s
cities and economic risk even more so. This paper discusses
what sets hazard risk in urban areas apart, provides
estimates of valuation of hazard risk, and discusses

This study responds to the need for
information and analysis on the urban sector in Sudan, to
inform the Bank's policy dialogue with the Government
of Sudan (GoS) on urban and local government issues, and to
inform the design of future Bank assistance. The first phase
of this analytical exercise, which is the focus of this
report, develops an overview of the urban landscape. The
report is structured as follows: section two describes the

Parts of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the
northeastern most administrative region of Pakistan, have
been undergoing a dramatic transformation over the last
three decades. Given the challenging environment, GB's
development outcomes are impressive, built on the
time-tempered resilience of the people of GB and facilitated
by high levels of social capital. GB has also benefitted
from the attentions of the national Government of Pakistan

The Kingdom of Lesotho is a land-locked
nation located in the Drakensberg mountain range in Southern
Africa. The country has a total area of 30355 km² and in
2009 had an estimated population of nearly 2.1 million, with
nominal per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$ 1080
(in 2010). About 75 percent live in rural areas, often in
scattered mountain villages, while most of the urban
population lives in and around the capital Maseru and the

Agriculture and agroprocessing are
important in Zambia's economy, representing more than
40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and contributing
about 12 percent of national export earnings. Agriculture
employs some 67 percent of the labor force and supplies raw
materials to agricultural industries, which account for some
84 percent of manufacturing value-added in the country.
Smallholder agriculture dominates the rural economy. It

The objective of conducting this case
study on Mozambique is to uncover the pattern of municipal
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) impact that
may exist in other low-capacity countries with analogous
political economy structures in relation to leveraging ICT
in public sectors. The study concludes by suggesting
measures to link the continent's ICT boom in
citizen-based mobile telephony and internet usage with the

The paper aims to provide an overview of
the gender disparities in three major domains-human capital,
labor market and entrepreneurship. In doing so, it builds on
the framework of the World Bank's regional gender
report opportunities for men and women: emerging Europe and
Central Asia (World Bank, 2011) and the world development
report on gender and development (World Bank, 2011). This
joint gender assessment work has the objectives of analyzing

The rich cultural heritage of China is
an essential touchstone of its collective identity. The
country's archaeological sites, historic architecture,
expressive arts, cultural landscapes, and ethnic diversity
also are treasured around the world. Despite their
importance, China's cultural assets are under
tremendous pressure due to the country's rapid
development, particularly its rapid urbanization. Moreover,