During the past decade, Georgia’s
pursuit of economic reforms led to impressive economic
growth, capital inflow, and investments. It helped improve
the business environment and infrastructure, strengthened
public finances, and liberalized trade. Georgia achieved
most of the human development targets of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). This progress did not result,
however, in improved environmental governance or better

Infrastructure and services are critical
to development and form the backbone of economic and
community activities at the local, regional, national, and
international levels. They enable the distribution of goods
and services within and between countries and ease access to
schools, markets, and health services. Food security and
vaccination programs, for example, require functioning roads
and railways and access to ports and airports to move

Himachal Pradesh has the reputation of
being stable, inclusive, cohesive and well-governed and it
stands apart in many respects from its neighbors in northern
India. It has additionally, achieved remarkable growth,
especially in the last two decades, which has been
accompanied by very good human development outcomes. Despite
being a predominantly rural society, educational attainment
in Himachal Pradesh for instance, is among the best in the

This Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD)
aims to identify the major constraints on and opportunities
for sustaining poverty reduction and shared prosperity in
Serbia. The SCD serves as the analytic foundation on which
the World Bank Group and the Government of Serbia will
define a new Country Partnership Framework for FY2016 to
FY2020. It is based on the best possible analysis, drawing
on available evidence, and not limited to areas where the

Actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions to stabilize warming at 2 degree Celsius, as
agreed by the international community in 2009, will fall
short if they do not include the transport sector. Transport
is responsible for around 23 percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions and emissions are expected to rise without
further action to curb emission growth and invest in low
carbon transport modes. Investment needs are estimated at

For many developing countries, natural
resource exports such as oil, diamonds and copper continue
to be important drivers for economic growth and provide a
unique opportunity for generating revenues for much-needed
infrastructure and human development. Dependence on
extractive resources, however, may also increase the
likelihood of underdevelopment, fragility and conflict. The
challenges for managing these resources efficiently are

The world's urban population is
expected to increase by about 2.7 billion by
2050.Virtually all of the increased population
will be in developing countries, leading to massive needs
for new and improved housing and urban infrastructures
(UNDESA 2012). The planning and design of these new
developments will reshape or create new urban landscapes
with significant implications for energy consumption,

Between 2002 and 2012-13, most of the
reduction in poverty was due to increased earnings, as
opposed to higher employment or higher transfers. Although
it is hard to be certain, increases in earnings are
associated with: (i) a slow structural transformation away
from agriculture and into industry and services that led to
productivity increases; (ii) agglomeration around key urban
areas that supported this structural transformation; (iii)

This paper's objective is to strengthen the capacity of various institutions in the Ministry of
Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation for sustainable water resources management, and to develop training tools for innovative techniques for further dissemination to state agencies and other stakeholders.

The West African coastal zone hosts
critical natural resources and habitats that provide
important ecosystem services. The area’s natural resources
play vital roles in the functioning of the shoreline,
providing natural protection against erosion, pollution, sea
level rise, and extreme weather events. Coastal and marine
ecosystems, including cold-water coral reefs, sea¬grass
meadows, mangrove forests, and coastal wetlands and lagoons,

Rapid urbanization in Ghana over the
past three decades has coincided with rapid GDP growth. This
has helped to create jobs, increase human capital, decrease
poverty, and expand opportunities and improve living
conditions for millions of Ghanaians. Ghana’s urban
transformation has been momentous, but it is not unique: a
similar process has characterized other countries at similar
levels of development. Ghana’s key challenge now is to

After years of strong performance in the
run-up to the European Union (EU) accession, Bulgaria’s
growth has slowed down and poverty remains the highest in
the EU. Bulgaria achieved the highest recorded growth rates
between 2000-08 on the back of exceptionally high capital
inflows, structural reforms, sound fiscal management and the
prospects of EU accession. Employment boomed and poverty
fell steeply. Since 2008 – the year of global economic